MICROALGAL LIGHT‐HARVESTING IN EXTREME LOW‐LIGHT ENVIRONMENTS IN MCMURDO SOUND, ANTARCTICA1

Abstract

ABSTRACT Microalgal pigment composition, photosynthetic characteristics, single‐cell absorption efficiency (Qa(λ)) spectra, and fluorescence‐excitation (FE) spectra were determined for platelet ice and benthic communities underlying fast ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, during austral spring 1988. Measurements of spectral irradiance (E(λ)) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) as well as samples for particulate absorption measurements were taken directly under the congelation ice, within the platelet layer, as profiles vertically through the water column, and at the benihic surface. Light attenuation by.sea ice, algal pigments, and particulates reduced PAR reaching the platelet ice layer to 3%(9–33 fimol photons m‐2‐−s‐1) of surface values and narrowed its spectral distribution to a band between 400 and 580 nm. Attenuation by the water column further reduced PAR reaching the sea floor (28–m depth) to 0.05% of surface levels (< 1 μmol photons m‐2 s‐1), with a spectral distribution dominated by 470–580–nm wavelengths. The photoadaptive index (I) for platelet ice algae (5.9–12.6 μmol photons m‐2.s‐1) was similar to ambient PAR, indicating that algae had acclimated to their light environment (i.e. the algae were light‐replete). Maximum Qa(λ) at the blue absorption peak (440 nm) was 0.63, and enhanced absorption was observed from 460–500 nm and was consistent with observed high cellular chlorophyll (chi) c:chl a and fucoxanthin: chl a molar ratios (0.4 and 1.2, respectively). Benthic algae were light‐limited despite the maintenance of very low Ik values (4–11 μmol photons.m‐2.s‐1). Extremely high fucoxanthin: chi a ratios (1.6) in benthic algae produced enhanced green light absorption, resulting in a high degree of complementation between algal absorption and ambient spectral irradiance. Qa(λ) values for benthic algae were maximal (0.9) between 400 and 510 nm but remained >0.35 even at absorption minima. Strong spectral flattening, a characteristic of intense pigment packaging, was also apparent in the Qa(λ) spectra for benthic algae. FE and Qa(λ) spectra were similar in shape for platelet ice algae, indicating that the efficiency at which absorbed energy was transferred to photosystem II (PSII) was independent of wavelength. Fluorescence emission by benthic algae was greatest for the 500–560–nm excitation wavelengths, suggesting that most energy absorbed by accessory pigments was transferred to PSII. These results suggest that under ice algae employ complementary pigmentation and maximize absorption efficiency as adaptive strategies to low‐light stress. Regulating the distribution of absorbed energy between PSI and PSII may be an adaptive response to the restricted spectral distribution of irradiance.