Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Photosynthesis in Codium fragile (Chlorophyta) from a Nova Scotia estuary: responses to desiccation and hyposalinity

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides from Caribou Harbour, an estuarine site in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, was extremely tolerant to stresses from desiccation and reduced salinity. Photosynthetic responses of both rhizomatous and erect growth forms were measured using pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry of chlorophyll a fluorescence to determine effective quantum yield (ΦPSII) and relative electron transport rate (rETR). After 5 h of desiccation, thalli lost 20% of their mass, but still showed high levels of ΦPSII. Thalli survived for at least 6 h in freshwater, and showed virtually complete recovery of photosynthetic capacity within a few hours of return to full seawater. Immersion in 8 psu showed virtually complete recovery until the 24 h treatment period. Combining desiccation and salinity stresses produced a synergistic effect, but plants still showed strong recovery even after 86% dehydration and reimmersion in 16 psu. These results suggest that the photosynthetic physiology of Codium fragile is highly adapted to growth in estuarine conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abe S, Kurashima A, Yokohama Y, Tanaka J (2001) The cellular ability of desiccation tolerance in Japanese intertidal algae. Bot Mar 44:125–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Begin C, Scheibling RE (2003) Growth and survival of the invasive green alga Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides in tide pools on a rocky shore in Nova Scotia. Bot Mar 46:404–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bird CJ, McLachlan J (1986) The effect of salinity on distribution of species of Gracilaria Grev. (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales): an experimental assessment. Bot Mar 29:231–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Björkman O, Demmig B (1987) Photon yield of O2-evolution and chloroplast fluorescence characteristics at 77 K among vascular plants of diverse origins. Planta 170:489–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brinkhuis BH, Tempel NR, Jones RF (1976) Photosynthesis and respiration of exposed salt-marsh fucoids. Mar Biol 34:339–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown MT (1987) Effect of desiccation on photosynthesis of intertidal algae from a southern New Zealand shore. Bot Mar 30:121–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell SJ (1999) Occurrence of Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides (Chlorophyta: Bryopsidales) in marine embayments of southeastern Australia. J Phycol 35:938–940

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman AS (1999) From introduced species to invader: what determines variation in the success of Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides (Chlorophyta) in the North Atlantic Ocean. Helgol Meeresunters 52:277–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dromgoole FI (1980) Desiccation resistance of intertidal and subtidal algae. Bot Mar 23:149–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garbary DJ, Barkhouse LB (1987) Blidingia ramifera stat nov. (Chlorophyta): a new marine alga for eastern North America. Nord J Bot 7:359–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garbary DJ, Vandermeulen H, Kim KY (1997) Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides (Chlorophyta) invades the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Atlantic Canada. Bot Mar 40:537–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garbary DJ, Fraser SJ, Hubbard C, Kim KY (2004) Codium fragile: rhizomatous growth in the Zostera thief of eastern Canada. Helgol Mar Res 53:141–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez I, Lopez-Figueroa F, Ulloa N, Morales V, Lovengreen C, Huovinen P, Hess S (2004) Patterns of photosynthesis in 18 species of intertidal macroalgae from southern Chile. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 270:103–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Häder D-P, Lebert M, Figueroa FL, Jiménez C, Viñegla B, Perez-Rodriguez E (1998) Photoinhibition in Mediterranean macroalgae by solar radiation measured on site by PAM fluorescence. Aquat Bot 61:225–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Häder D-P, Lebert M, Jiménez C, Salles S, Aguilera J, Flores-Moya A, Mercado J, Viñegla B, Figueroa FL (1999) Pulse amplitude modulated fluorescence in the green macrophytes, Codium adherens, Enteromorpha muscoides, Ulva gigantea and Ulva rigida, from the Atlantic coast of southern Spain. Environ Exp Bot 41:247–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Häder D-P, Porst M, Lebert M (2000) On site photosynthetic performance of Atlantic green algae. J Photochem Photobiol B: Biol 57:159–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Häder D-P, Porst M, Lebert M (2001) Photoinhibition in common Atlantic macroalgae measured on site in Gran Canaria. Helgol Mar Res 55:67–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanisak MD (1979) Growth patterns of Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides in response to temperature, irradiance, salinity, and nitrogen source. Mar Biol 50:319–332

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Herbert SK, Waaland JR (1988) Photoinhibition of photosynthesis in a sun and a shade species of the red algal genus Porphyra. Mar Biol 97:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard CB, Garbary DJ (2002) Morphological variation of Codium fragile (Chlorophyta) in eastern Canada. Bot Mar 45:476–485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji Y, Tanaka J (2002) Effect of desiccation on the photosynthesis of seaweeds from the intertidal zone in Honshu, Japan. Phycol Res 50:145–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiménez C, Figueroa FL, Salles S, Aquilera J, Mercado J, Viñegla B, Flores-Moyes A, Lebert M, Häder D-P (1998) Effects of solar radiation on photoinhibition in red macrophytes from an intertidal system of southern Spain. Bot Mar 41:329–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson WS, Gigon A, Gulmon SL, Mooney HA (1974) Comparative photosynthetic capacities of intertidal algae under exposed and submerged conditions. Ecology 55:450–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamer K, Fong P (2000) A fluctuating salinity regime mitigates effects of reduced salinity on the estuarine macroalga, Enteromorpha intestinalis (L.) Link. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 254:53–69

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karsten U, Kirst GO (1989a) Intracellular solutes, photosynthesis and respiration of the green alga Blidingia minima in response to salinity stress. Bot Acta 102:123–128

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karsten U, Kirst GO (1989b) The effect of salinity on growth, photosynthesis and respiration in the estuarine red alga Bostrychia radicans. Helgol Meresunters 43:61–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim KY, Choi TS, Kim JH, Han T, Shin HW, Garbary DJ (2004a) Physiological ecology and seasonality of Ulva pertusa on a temperate rocky shore. Phycologia 43:483–492

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim KY, Garbary DJ, McLachlan JL (2004b) Phytoplankton dynamics in Pomquet Harbour, Nova Scotia: a lagoon in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence. Phycologia 43:311–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim KY, Lee IK (1996) The germling growth of Enteromorpha intestinalis (Chlorophyta) in laboratory culture under different combinations of irradiance and salinity and temperature and salinity. Phycologia 35:327–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirst GO (1989) Salinity tolerance of eukaryotic marine algae. Ann Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 40:21–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee TM (1998) Investigations of some intertidal macroalgae to hyposaline stress: detrimental role of putrescine under extreme hyposaline conditions. Plant Sci 138:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobban CS, Harrison PJ (1994) Seaweed ecology and physiology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Locke A, Hanson JM, Ellis KM, Klassen GJ, Garbary D, MacNair NG (2003) Effects of recent invasions on ecosystems in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence: predictions and early observations. Proc Int Aquatic Invasive Species Conf 11:143–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Lüning K (1990) Seaweeds: their environment, biogeography and ecophysiology. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Macler BA (1988) Salinity effects on photosynthesis, carbon allocation, and nitrogen assimilation in the red alga, Gelidium coulteri. Plant Physiol 88:690–694

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Malinowski KC, Ramus J (1973) Growth of the green alga Codium fragile in a Connecticut estuary. J Phycol 9:102–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathieson AC, Dawes CJ, Harris LG, Hehre EJ (2003) Expansion of the Asiatic green alga Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides in the Gulf of Maine. Rhodora 105:1–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Michler T, Aguilera J, Hanelt D, Bischof K (2002) Long-term effects of ultraviolet radiation on growth and photosynthetic performance of polar and cold-temperate macroalgae. Mar Biol 140:1117–1127

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Munda IM (1978) Salinity dependent distribution of benthic algae in estuarine areas of Icelandic fjords. Bot Mar 21:451–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Oates BR (1985) Photosynthesis and amelioration of desiccation in the intertidal saccate alga Colpomenia peregrina. Mar Biol 89:109–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oates BR (1986) Components of photosynthesis in the intertidal saccate alga Halosaccion americanum (Rhodophyta, Palmariales). J Phycol 22:217–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Quadir A, Harrison PJ, DeWreede RE (1979) The effects of emergence and submergence on the photosynthesis and respiration of marine macrophytes. Phycologia 18:83–88

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramus J (1978) Seaweed anatomy and photosynthetic performance: the ecological significance of light guides, heterogeneous absorption and multiple scatter. J Phycol 14:352–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramus J (1990) A form-function analysis of photon capture for seaweeds. Hydrobiologia 204/205:65–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramus J, Beale SI, Mauzerall D (1976) Changes in photosynthetic pigment concentration in seaweeds as a function of water depth. Mar Biol 37:223–229

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sagert S, Forster RM, Feuerfeil P, Schubert H (1997) Daily course of photosynthesis and photoinhibition in Chondrus crispus (Rhodophyta) from different shore levels. Eur J Phycol 32:363–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schreiber U, Bilger W (1987) Rapid assessment of stress effects on plant leaves by chlorophyll fluorescence measurements. In: Tenhunen JD, Catarino FM, Lange OL, Oechel WC (eds) Plant response to stress. Functional analysis in Mediterranean ecosystems. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 27–53

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schreiber U, Bilger W, Neubauer C (1994) Chlorophyll fluorescence as a non-intrusive indicator for rapid assessment of in vivo photosynthesis. In: Schulze ED, Caldwell MM (eds) Ecophysiology of Photosynthesis. Ecological Studies, vol 100. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 49–70

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Scrosati R, DeWreede RE (1998) The impact of frond crowding on frond bleaching in the clonal intertidal alga Mazzaella cornucopiae (Rhodophyta, Gigartinaceae) from British Columbia, Canada. J Phycol 34:228–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheath RG (1987) Invasions into the Laurentian Great Lakes by marine algae. Arch Hydrobiol Beih, Ergebn Limnol 25:165–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas DN, Collins JC, Russell G (1988) Interactive effects of temperature and salinity upon net photosynthesis of Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kütz. and C. rupestris (L.) Kütz. Bot Mar 31:73–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Trowbridge CD (1995) Establishment of the green alga Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides on New Zealand rocky shores: current distribution and invertebrate grazers. J Ecol 83:949–965

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trowbridge CD (1998) Ecology of the green macroalga Codium fragile (Suringar) Hariot 1889: invasive and non-invasive subspecies. Ann Rev Oceanogr Mar Biol 36:1–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Trowbridge CD (2002) Coexistence of introduced and native congeneric algae: Codium fragile and C. tomentosum on Irish rocky intertidal shores. J Mar Biol Ass 81:931–937

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiencke C, Davenport J (1987) Respiration and photosynthesis in the intertidal alga Cladophora rupestris (L.) Kütz. under fluctuating salinity regimes. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 114:183–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiltens J, Schreiber U, Vidaver W (1978) Chlorophyll fluorescence induction: an indicator of photosynthetic activity in marine algae understanding desiccation. Can J Bot 56:2787–2794

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yakovleva IM, Titlyanov EA (2001) Effect of high visible and UV irradiance on subtidal Chondrus crispus: stress, photoinhibition and protective mechanisms. Aquat Bot 71:47–61

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang MH, Blunden G, Huang FL, Fletcher RL (1997) Growth of a dissociated, filamentous stage of Codium species in laboratory culture. J Appl Phycol 9:1–3

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zou D, Gao K (2002) Effects of desiccation and CO2 concentrations on emersed photosynthesis in Porphyra haitanensis (Bangiales, Rhodophyta), a species farmed in China. Eur J Phycol 37:587–597

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Sarah Fraser for technical support and AG Miller and Ricardo Scrosati for helpful discussion and comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from MarineBio21, Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Korea to KYK and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to DJG.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oceanography, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, South Korea

    Kwang Young Kim

  2. Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada, B2G 2W5

    David J. Garbary

Authors
  1. Kwang Young Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David J. Garbary
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kwang Young Kim.

Additional information

Communicated by M. Kühl, Helsingør.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, K.Y., Garbary, D.J. Photosynthesis in Codium fragile (Chlorophyta) from a Nova Scotia estuary: responses to desiccation and hyposalinity. Mar Biol 151, 99–107 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0459-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0459-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation