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. 2021 May 25;10(6):1056.
doi: 10.3390/plants10061056.

Opposite Growth Responses of Alexandrium minutum and Alexandrium catenella to Photoperiods and Temperatures

Ping Li  1   2 , Qun Ma  1 , Su Xu  1 , Wenha Liu  1   2 , Zengling Ma  3 , Guangyan Ni  4
Affiliations

Opposite Growth Responses of Alexandrium minutum and Alexandrium catenella to Photoperiods and Temperatures

Ping Li et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Shift of phytoplankton niches from low to high latitudes has altered their experienced light exposure durations and temperatures. To explore this interactive effect, the growth, physiology, and cell compositions of smaller Alexandrium minutum and larger A. catenella, globally distributed toxic red tide dinoflagellates, were studied under a matrix of photoperiods (light:dark cycles of 8:16, 16:8, and 24:0) and temperatures (18 °C, 22 °C, 25 °C, and 28 °C). Under continuous growth light condition (L:D 24:0), the growth rate (µ) of small A. minutum increased from low to medium temperature, then decreased to high temperature, while the µ of large A. catenella continuously decreased with increasing temperatures. Shortened photoperiods reduced the µ of A. minutum, but enhanced that of A. catenella. As temperature increased, cellular Chl a content increased in both A. minutum and A. catenella, while the temperature-induced effect on RubisCO content was limited. Shortened photoperiods enhanced the Chl a but reduced RubisCO contents across temperatures. Moreover, shortened photoperiods enhanced photosynthetic capacities of both A. minutum and A. catenella, i.e., promoting the PSII photochemical quantum yield (FV/FM, ΦPSII), saturation irradiance (EK), and maximum relative electron transfer rate (rETRmax). Shortened photoperiods also enhanced dark respiration of A. minutum across temperatures, but reduced that of A. catenella, as well as the antioxidant activities of both species. Overall, A. minutum and A. catenella showed differential growth responses to photoperiods across temperatures, probably with cell size.

Keywords: Alexandrium; antioxidant activity; cell size; growth; photoperiod; respiration; rubisCO; temperature.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Growth rate (µ, d−1) versus culture temperature (°C) for smaller dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum (A) and larger Alexandrium catenella (B) under light:dark (L:D) cycles of 8:16, 16:8, and 24:0 and temperatures of 18, 22, 25, and 28 °C. Points show averages of three growth determinations on independently grown cultures; error bars show standard deviations (n = 3), often within symbols.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cell biovolume-based chlorophyll a (A,B; Chl a, fg µm−3) and RubisCO contents (C,D; fg µm−3) across growth temperature (°C) for A. minutum (A,C) and A. catenella (B,D) at L:D cycles of 8:16, 16:8, and 24:0. Note: there is a 10-fold difference in the Y-axis scales of panels A and B. Points show averages of three determinations on independently replicated cultures; error bars show standard deviations, often within symbols.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Maximal photochemical quantum yield (FV/FM) of Photosystem II (PSII) (A,B) and effective PSII quantum yield (C,D) across growth temperature (°C) for A. minutum (A,C) and A. catenella (B,D) at L:D cycles of 8:16, 16:8, and 24:0. Points show averages of three determinations on independently replicated cultures; error bars show standard deviations, often within symbols.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The rapid light curve-derived light utilization efficiency (α) (A,B), saturation irradiance (EK, µmol photons m−2 s−1) (C,D), and maximal relative electron transfer rate (rETRmax) (E,F) across growth temperature (°C) of A. minutum (A,C,E) and A. catenella (B,D,F) at L:D cycles of 8:16, 16:8, and 24:0. Points show averages of three determinations on independently replicated cultures; error bars show standard deviations, often within symbols.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Cell biovolume-based dark respiration (A,B; fmol O2 µm−3 min−1) and antioxidant capability (C,D; fmol Tolox µm-3) across growth temperature (°C) for A. minutum (A,C) and A. catenella (B,D) at L:D cycles of 8:16, 16:8, and 24:0. Note: there is a 10-fold difference in the Y-axis scales of panels C and D. Points show averages of three determinations on independently replicated cultures; error bars show standard deviations, often within symbols.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effects of temperature/photoperiod to biochemical and physiological parameters and their relations for A. minutum (A) and A. catenella (B), with color gradient denoting Pearson’s rank correlation coefficients and edge width showing p value.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Cell biovolume-based RubisCO content (A,B, fmol µm−3) and antioxidant capability (C,D, fmol Tolox µm−3) versus biovolume-based 1/Chl a [(fg µm−3)−1] for A. minutum (A,C) and A. catenella (B,D) at L:D cycles of 8:16, 16:8, and 24:0. Bold lines in panels (A,C,D) show pooled linear regression (R2 = 0.42–0.54, p < 0.05) and in panel B shows one phase decay (R2 = 0.85); thin dashed lines show 95% confidence intervals on the fitted curve.
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