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Photosynthetic carbon acquisition in Sargassum henslowianum (Fucales, Phaeophyta), with special reference to the comparison between the vegetative and reproductive tissues

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Abstract

The photosynthetic oxygen evolution characteristics were examined in both vegetative (blade) and sexual reproductive (receptacle) tissues of Sargassum henslowianum (Fucales, Phaeophyta) from the Shenao bay of Nanao Island, China, to establish the mechanism of photosynthetic acquisition of inorganic carbon (Ci) in this species. In natural seawater (pH 8.1, ca. 2.2 mM Ci), irradiance-saturated net photosynthetic rate (NPR) was greater by 25.3% in blade than receptacle, whereas dark respiratory rate (DR) was 2-fold higher in receptacle than blade. NPR at pH 8.1 was nearly saturated with the 2.2 mM Ci for both blade and receptacle. However, the values of the half-saturation constant for Ci were sharply increased at pH 9.0. NPR was significantly affected, but DR was remained unchanged, with the variation of the pH values in seawater. The data from the final pH value derived from the pH-drift experiments and the comparison between the measured and theoretically estimated photosynthetic rates suggested that both blade and receptacle were capable of acquiring HCO3 − in seawater. The inhibitors experiments showed that a HCO3 − dehydration mechanism mediated by external carbonic anhydrase activity occurred in both the blade and receptacle tissues of S. henslowianum. The proton buffer TRIS had no inhibitory effect on NPR at normal pH value in natural seawater (pH 8.1), but it significantly depressed NPR at pH 9.0. This suggested that proton transport occurred at the outside of the plasma membrane facilitated the operation of the carbon acquisition at pH 9.0. It was proposed that the strategy of photosynthetic carbon acquisition at higher pH would prevent the alga from the damage of over-excitation and photoinhibition in case of sunshine and calm water. We concluded that the blade and receptacle tissues of S. henslowianum have similar mechanism of acquisition of exogenous Ci from seawater to drive photosynthesis; yet they are differentiated more or less with the photosynthetic properties.

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Abbreviations

Ci:

Inorganic carbon

NPR:

Net photosynthetic rate

DR:

Dark respiration

CA:

Carbonic anhydrase

AZ:

Acetazolamide

DIDS:

4,4′-Diisothiocyano-stilbene-2,2′-disulfonate

TRIS:

Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane

APC:

Apparent photosynthetic conductance

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Chinese 973 Projects (No. 2009CB421207), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41076094 and 30970450), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10-0375), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, SCUT (2009ZZ0074).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, The Key Lab of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Dinghui Zou

  2. State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361005, China

    Kunshan Gao

  3. Marine Biology Institute, Science Center, Shantou University, Shantou, Guangdong, 515063, China

    Weizhou Chen

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  1. Dinghui Zou
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Correspondence to Dinghui Zou.

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Zou, D., Gao, K. & Chen, W. Photosynthetic carbon acquisition in Sargassum henslowianum (Fucales, Phaeophyta), with special reference to the comparison between the vegetative and reproductive tissues. Photosynth Res 107, 159–168 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-010-9612-2

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