Single-cell pulse amplitude modulation fluorescence measurements of the giant diatom Ethmodiscus (Bacillariophyceae)

Abstract

Diurnal changes in effective yield (ΔF:Fm′), rapid light curves (RLCs), and induction/dark recovery time series were measured on individual cells of the giant diatom Ethmodiscus Castracane using active fluorescence (pulse amplitude modulation fluorometry). Unlike the co-occurring diatom Hemiaulus and bulk phytoplankton, there was no observable diurnal down-regulation of yield or relative electron transport rates in Ethmodiscus. Yields were constant at or near maximum values (0.7-0.8). Increases in ΔF:Fm′ during the initial actinic levels are consistent with dark nonphotochemical quenching mechanisms. Sustained actinic illumination (660 μmol photon·m-2·s-1) resulted in a ΔF:Fm′ of 0.2-0.3, but rapid recovery to near-maximum values occurred in subsequent dark periods. Such recovery occurred even after exposure to full sunlight for 28 min, but not at 60 min. Thus, the lack of diurnal down-regulation in Ethmodiscus is apparent, not real, and is an artifact of the time scale of sample extraction from net tows. These positively buoyant cells showed no evidence of routine photodamage, probably due to mixing and reduction in the average light exposure. The general patterns seen in RLCs from light-and dark-adapted higher plants are significantly different from those observed in Ethmodiscus. These results suggest that active fluorescence characteristics require careful examination to differentiate habitat- and taxon-specific characteristics from light-history effects. It is unclear whether the rapid recovery seen in Ethmodiscus is unique. The differences seen between Hemiaulus and Ethmodiscus from the same samples suggest that changes in community yield values measured in countertop systems could be the result of species replacement in addition to experimental or environmental perturbations.