Summary
The effect of anaerobic (N2+CO2) pre-incubation in the dark on photosynthetic reactions (O2 evolution, measured manometrically and with the oxygraph; fluorescence; and photoproduction of H2, measured with the mass spectrometer) was studied in algae with hydrogenase (strains of Chlorella fusca, C. kessleri, C. vulgaris f. tertia, and Ankistrodesmus braunii) and in algae without hydrogenase (strains of Chlorella vulgaris, C. saccharophila, and C. minutissima).
The inhibition by anaerobic incubation of photosynthetic O2 evolution is much stronger in algae without hydrogenase than it is in algae with hydrogenase. The effect of anaerobiosis is most pronounced at rather low light intensity (about 1000 lux), in acid medium (pH 4), and after prolonged anaerobic incubation in the dark (about 20 h). These results indicate that the presence of hydrogenase might be ecologically advantageous for algae under certain conditions.
Chlorophyll fluorescence showed the fastest response to anaerobic incubation, and the most pronounced difference between algae with and without hydrogenase. After only 30 min under N2+CO2, fluorescence in algae with hydrogenase starts with a peak and decreases within 10 to 20 sec to a rather low steady-state level which is only slightly higher than that found under aerobic conditions. In algae without hydrogenase, fluorescence is rather low during the first 1 to 2 sec and then rises to a higher steady-state level which is much higher than that of the aerobic controls. This indicates an inhibition due to anaerobiosis of photosystem II in algae without hydrogenase.
Algae with hydrogenase can react in different ways during the first minutes of illumination. In some cases there is an immediate photoproduction of H2, which is followed after a few minutes by photosynthetic O2 evolution; in other algae there is a simultaneous production of H2 and O2 from the very beginning; in a few experiments there was no photoproduction of H2 at all, and in this case there was no photosynthetic O2 evolution either. Thus, photoproduction of H2 seems to be the process which normally enables algae with hydrogenase to oxidise and thereby activate their photosynthetic electron transport system after anaerobic incubation.
A mass spectrometric search for nitrogen fixation (using N2 and acetylene) in eucaryotic green algae gave negative results, even with species containing hydrogenase and under anaerobic conditions.
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Kessler, E. Effect of anaerobiosis on photosynthetic reactions and nitrogen metabolism of algae with and without hydrogenase. Archiv. Mikrobiol. 93, 91–100 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00424940
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00424940