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Photoprotective acclimation of micro- and nano-size phytoplankton assemblages in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean

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Abstract

Phytoplankton in the mixed layer is exposed to increasing levels of light when transported to the surface layer of the ocean. The photoprotective response of natural assemblages of phytoplankton can differ among community structures. We investigated photoprotective acclimation and xanthophyll cycle pigments in size-fractionated natural phytoplankton assemblages during the austral summer in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean. We estimated concentrations of phytoplankton pigments in the micro-size fractions (>20 μm) and nano-size fractions (2–20 μm) by subtracting concentrations in the <20 μm fractions from concentrations in the bulk samples, and by subtracting concentrations in the <2 μm fractions from concentrations in the <20 μm fractions, respectively. Changes in the ratios of the xanthophyll cycle pigments diadinoxanthin (DD) and diatoxanthin (DT) were determined at three optical depths in the mixed layer and during 48 h deck incubations under solar photosynthetically available radiation and ultraviolet radiation. Large variations in (DD + DT)/Chl a in the mixed layer (percent coefficient of variation >67 %) and in deck incubation bottles under variable light conditions (>75 % of the temporal variation) for the micro-size fractions suggest a higher potential for photoprotective acclimation than for the nano-size fractions. Decreases in DT/(DD + DT) with increases in the optical depth of the mixed layer (ζ MLD) suggest that larger variations in light availability in the mixed layer might predict lower values of DT/(DD + DT) at the surface, regardless of cell size.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank G. Hashida and M. Moteki for supporting the cruises and this study. The authors also wish to thank V.S. Kuwahara, T. Hirawake, T. Iida, S. Takao, and H. Endo for providing technical support for the experiments. The authors also wish to thank the captain, officers, and crew of the TR/V Umitaka-maru, the students of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, and the scientists of JARE-52 and -53, especially F. Akiha and S. Suganami, for technical assistance with sampling. This work was supported in part by the RAMEEC (Responses of Antarctic Marine Ecosystems to global Environmental Changes with Carbonate systems) project of JARE. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soka University, 1-236 Tangi-cho, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-8577, Japan

    Shozo Motokawa & Satoru Taguchi

  2. Tokai University, 1-1, 1-Chome 5-Jo, Minami-sawa, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 005-8601, Japan

    Hiroshi Hattori

  3. Ishinomaki Senshu University, 1 Shinmito, Minamisakai, Ishinomaki, Miyagi, 986-8580, Japan

    Hiroshi Sasaki

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  1. Shozo Motokawa
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  2. Hiroshi Hattori
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  4. Satoru Taguchi
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Correspondence to Satoru Taguchi.

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Motokawa, S., Hattori, H., Sasaki, H. et al. Photoprotective acclimation of micro- and nano-size phytoplankton assemblages in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean. Polar Biol 37, 1373–1381 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1527-5

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