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Inhibition of PS II photochemistry by PAR and UV radiation in natural phytoplankton communities

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Abstract

The effects of PAR and UV radiation on PS II photochemistry were examined in natural phytoplankton communities from coastal waters off Rhode Island (USA) and the subtropical Pacific. The photochemical energy conversion efficiency, the functional absorption cross section and the kinetics of electron transfer on the acceptor side of PS II were derived from variable fluorescence parameters using both pump and probe and fast repetition rate techniques. In both environments, the natural phytoplankton communities displayed marked decreases in PS II photochemical energy conversion efficiency that were correlated with increased PAR. In the coastal waters, the changes in photochemical energy conversion efficiency were not statistically different for samples treated with supplementary UV-B radiation or screened to exclude ambient UV-B. Moreover, no significant light-dependent changes in the functional absorption cross section of PS II were observed. The rate of electron transfer between QA - and QB was, however, slightly reduced in photodamaged cells, indicative of damage on the acceptor side. In the subtropical Pacific, the decrease in photochemical energy conversion efficiency was significantly greater for samples exposed to natural levels of UV-A and/or UV-B compared with those exposed to PAR alone. The cells displayed large diurnal changes in the functional absorption cross section of PS II, indicative of non-photochemical quenching in the antenna. The changes in the functional absorption cross section were highly correlated with PAR but independent of UV radiation. The time course of changes in photochemical efficiency reveals that the photoinhibited reaction centers rapidly recover (within an hour or two) to their preillumination values. Thus, while we found definitive evidence for photoinhibition of PS II photochemistry in both coastal and open ocean phytoplankton communities, we did not find any effect of UV-B on the former, but a clear effect on the latter. The results of this study indicate that the effects of UV-B radiation on phytoplankton photosynthesis are as dependent on the radiative transfer properties of the water body and the mixing rate, as on the wavelength and energy distribution of the radiation and the absorption cross sections of the biophysical targets.

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Author notes

  1. Ilya R. Vassiliev

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska, 68583-0718, Lincoln, NE, USA

  2. Ondrej Prasil

    Present address: Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 379 81, Trebon, Czech Republic

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oceanographic and Atmospheric Sciences Division, Department of Applied Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 11973-5000, Upton, NY, USA

    Ilya R. Vassiliev, Ondrej Prasil, Kevin D. Wyman, Zbigniew Kolber & Paul G. Falkowski

  2. Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, 02882, Narragansett, RI, USA

    Alfred K. Hanson Jr. & Jennifer E. Prentice

Authors
  1. Ilya R. Vassiliev
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  2. Ondrej Prasil
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  3. Kevin D. Wyman
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  4. Zbigniew Kolber
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  5. Alfred K. Hanson Jr.
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  6. Jennifer E. Prentice
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  7. Paul G. Falkowski
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The submitted manuscript has been authored under Contract No. DE-AC02-76CH00016 with the U.S. Department of Energy. Accordingly, the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, royalty-free license to publish or reproduce the published form of this contribution, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.

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Vassiliev, I.R., Prasil, O., Wyman, K.D. et al. Inhibition of PS II photochemistry by PAR and UV radiation in natural phytoplankton communities. Photosynth Res 42, 51–64 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019058

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019058

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