Dynamic photoinhibition exhibited by red coralline algae in the red sea

Heidi Burdett; Victoria Keddie; Nicola MacArthur; Laurin  McDowall; Jennifer McLeish; Eva Spielvogel; Angela Hatton; Nicholas Kamenos

doi:10.1186/1471-2229-14-139

Dynamic photoinhibition exhibited by red coralline algae in the red sea

Heidi Burdett, Victoria Keddie, Nicola MacArthur, Laurin McDowall, Jennifer McLeish, Eva Spielvogel, Angela Hatton, Nicholas Kamenos

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Background: Red coralline algae are critical components of tropical reef systems, and their success and development is, at least in part, dependent on photosynthesis. However, natural variability in the photosynthetic characteristics of red coralline algae is poorly understood. This study investigated diurnal variability in encrusting Porolithon sp. and free-living Lithophyllum kotschyanum. Measured parameters included: photosynthetic characteristics, pigment composition, thallus reflectance and intracellular concentrations of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), an algal antioxidant that is derived from methionine, an indirect product of photosynthesis. L. kotschyanum thalli were
characterised by a bleached topside and a pigmented underside.

Results: Minimum saturation intensity and intracellular DMSP concentrations in
Porolithon sp. were characterised by significant diurnal patterns in response to the high-light regime. A smaller diurnal pattern in minimum saturation intensity in the topside of L. kotschyanum was also evident. The overall reflectance of the topside of L. kotschyanum also exhibited a diurnal pattern, becoming increasingly reflective with increasing ambient irradiance. The underside of L. kotschyanum, which is shaded from ambient light exposure, exhibited a much smaller diurnal variability.

Conclusions: This study highlights a number of dynamic photoinhibition strategies adopted by coralline algae, enabling them to tolerate, rather than be inhibited by, the naturally high irradiance of tropical reef systems; a factor that may become more important in the future under global change projections. In this context, this research has significant implications for tropical reef management planning and conservation monitoring, which, if natural variability is not taken into account, may become flawed. The information provided by this research may be used to inform future investigations into the contribution of coralline algae to reef accretion, ecosystem service provision and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

Original language	English
Article number	139
Number of pages	10
Journal	BMC Plant Biology
Volume	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2229-14-139
Publication status	Published - 20 May 2014

Keywords

Dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP)
PAM fluorometry
Maerl
Rhodolith
Coral reef
Crustose coralline algae (CCA)
Photosynthesis
Photosynthetic pigment

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10.1186/1471-2229-14-139Licence: CC BY

Burdett et al 2014
© Burdett et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Final published version, 567 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Dynamic photoinhibition exhibited by red coralline algae in the red sea",

abstract = "Background: Red coralline algae are critical components of tropical reef systems, and their success and development is, at least in part, dependent on photosynthesis. However, natural variability in the photosynthetic characteristics of red coralline algae is poorly understood. This study investigated diurnal variability in encrusting Porolithon sp. and free-living Lithophyllum kotschyanum. Measured parameters included: photosynthetic characteristics, pigment composition, thallus reflectance and intracellular concentrations of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), an algal antioxidant that is derived from methionine, an indirect product of photosynthesis. L. kotschyanum thalli were characterised by a bleached topside and a pigmented underside. Results: Minimum saturation intensity and intracellular DMSP concentrations in Porolithon sp. were characterised by significant diurnal patterns in response to the high-light regime. A smaller diurnal pattern in minimum saturation intensity in the topside of L. kotschyanum was also evident. The overall reflectance of the topside of L. kotschyanum also exhibited a diurnal pattern, becoming increasingly reflective with increasing ambient irradiance. The underside of L. kotschyanum, which is shaded from ambient light exposure, exhibited a much smaller diurnal variability. Conclusions: This study highlights a number of dynamic photoinhibition strategies adopted by coralline algae, enabling them to tolerate, rather than be inhibited by, the naturally high irradiance of tropical reef systems; a factor that may become more important in the future under global change projections. In this context, this research has significant implications for tropical reef management planning and conservation monitoring, which, if natural variability is not taken into account, may become flawed. The information provided by this research may be used to inform future investigations into the contribution of coralline algae to reef accretion, ecosystem service provision and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.",

keywords = "Dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), PAM fluorometry, Maerl, Rhodolith, Coral reef, Crustose coralline algae (CCA), Photosynthesis, Photosynthetic pigment",

author = "Heidi Burdett and Victoria Keddie and Nicola MacArthur and Laurin McDowall and Jennifer McLeish and Eva Spielvogel and Angela Hatton and Nicholas Kamenos",

note = "This research was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council Studentship (NE/H525303/1) and a Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) Fellowship to HLB and a Royal Society of Edinburgh/Scottish Government Fellowship (RES 48704/1) to NAK. ",

year = "2014",

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doi = "10.1186/1471-2229-14-139",

language = "English",

volume = "14",

journal = "BMC Plant Biology",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Dynamic photoinhibition exhibited by red coralline algae in the red sea

AU - Burdett, Heidi

AU - Keddie, Victoria

AU - MacArthur, Nicola

AU - McDowall, Laurin

AU - McLeish, Jennifer

AU - Spielvogel, Eva

AU - Hatton, Angela

AU - Kamenos, Nicholas

N1 - This research was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council Studentship (NE/H525303/1) and a Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) Fellowship to HLB and a Royal Society of Edinburgh/Scottish Government Fellowship (RES 48704/1) to NAK.

PY - 2014/5/20

Y1 - 2014/5/20

N2 - Background: Red coralline algae are critical components of tropical reef systems, and their success and development is, at least in part, dependent on photosynthesis. However, natural variability in the photosynthetic characteristics of red coralline algae is poorly understood. This study investigated diurnal variability in encrusting Porolithon sp. and free-living Lithophyllum kotschyanum. Measured parameters included: photosynthetic characteristics, pigment composition, thallus reflectance and intracellular concentrations of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), an algal antioxidant that is derived from methionine, an indirect product of photosynthesis. L. kotschyanum thalli were characterised by a bleached topside and a pigmented underside. Results: Minimum saturation intensity and intracellular DMSP concentrations in Porolithon sp. were characterised by significant diurnal patterns in response to the high-light regime. A smaller diurnal pattern in minimum saturation intensity in the topside of L. kotschyanum was also evident. The overall reflectance of the topside of L. kotschyanum also exhibited a diurnal pattern, becoming increasingly reflective with increasing ambient irradiance. The underside of L. kotschyanum, which is shaded from ambient light exposure, exhibited a much smaller diurnal variability. Conclusions: This study highlights a number of dynamic photoinhibition strategies adopted by coralline algae, enabling them to tolerate, rather than be inhibited by, the naturally high irradiance of tropical reef systems; a factor that may become more important in the future under global change projections. In this context, this research has significant implications for tropical reef management planning and conservation monitoring, which, if natural variability is not taken into account, may become flawed. The information provided by this research may be used to inform future investigations into the contribution of coralline algae to reef accretion, ecosystem service provision and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

AB - Background: Red coralline algae are critical components of tropical reef systems, and their success and development is, at least in part, dependent on photosynthesis. However, natural variability in the photosynthetic characteristics of red coralline algae is poorly understood. This study investigated diurnal variability in encrusting Porolithon sp. and free-living Lithophyllum kotschyanum. Measured parameters included: photosynthetic characteristics, pigment composition, thallus reflectance and intracellular concentrations of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), an algal antioxidant that is derived from methionine, an indirect product of photosynthesis. L. kotschyanum thalli were characterised by a bleached topside and a pigmented underside. Results: Minimum saturation intensity and intracellular DMSP concentrations in Porolithon sp. were characterised by significant diurnal patterns in response to the high-light regime. A smaller diurnal pattern in minimum saturation intensity in the topside of L. kotschyanum was also evident. The overall reflectance of the topside of L. kotschyanum also exhibited a diurnal pattern, becoming increasingly reflective with increasing ambient irradiance. The underside of L. kotschyanum, which is shaded from ambient light exposure, exhibited a much smaller diurnal variability. Conclusions: This study highlights a number of dynamic photoinhibition strategies adopted by coralline algae, enabling them to tolerate, rather than be inhibited by, the naturally high irradiance of tropical reef systems; a factor that may become more important in the future under global change projections. In this context, this research has significant implications for tropical reef management planning and conservation monitoring, which, if natural variability is not taken into account, may become flawed. The information provided by this research may be used to inform future investigations into the contribution of coralline algae to reef accretion, ecosystem service provision and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

KW - Dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP)

KW - PAM fluorometry

KW - Maerl

KW - Rhodolith

KW - Coral reef

KW - Crustose coralline algae (CCA)

KW - Photosynthesis

KW - Photosynthetic pigment

UR - http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/14/139

U2 - 10.1186/1471-2229-14-139

DO - 10.1186/1471-2229-14-139

M3 - Article

SN - 1471-2229

VL - 14

JO - BMC Plant Biology

JF - BMC Plant Biology

M1 - 139

ER -

Dynamic photoinhibition exhibited by red coralline algae in the red sea

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Keywords

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