Abstract
Three harmful algal bloom (HAB) species, Phaeocystis globosa, Thalassiosira rotula, and Prorocentrum donghaiense were isolated from the coast of China and cultured in batches at three light intensities (40, 70 and 150 µmol photons·m−2·s−1). The variation patterns of cell numbers and growth rates with light intensity during growth process were different among species. In P. globosa and T. rotula, maximum growth rates were found at 150 µmol photons·m−2·s−1 and ranged from 0.60 divisions per day in T. rotula, to 1.17 divisions per day in P. globosa. The highest growth rate of P. donghaiense, however, was found at 70 µmol photons·m−2·s−1 (0.36 divisions per day). In general, all the three HAB species showed adaptation to increasing light intensity by decreasing cellular concentrations of chlorophyll a (Chl a), but the variation patterns during the growth process were species-specific. The cellular concentrations of Chl a in P. donghaiense and T. rotula increased gradually with incubation time, but the opposite trend was found in P. globosa. Most of the pigment ratios and pigment indices of these three species were nearly constant during the growth process and showed small changes at different light intensities illustrating the applicability of chemotaxonomy during the initial and developing stages of HAB events, which is very important to study the ecological issues related to HAB species. Ratios of photoprotective carotenoids, such as diadinoxanthin, diatoxanthin and β, β-carotene to total chlorophylls a (Tchl a) showed the trend of increasing with the increase of light intensity during growth process. The species-specific and pigment-specific variations in pigment ratios/indices at different light intensities during growth process probably reflected the differences in the pigment composition as well as the adaption capabilities of different species to the changes of physical conditions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cartaxana P, Mendes C R, Brotas V. 2009. Phytoplankton and ecological assessment of brackish and freshwater coastal lagoons in the Algarve, Portugal. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research and Management, 14: 221–230
Deng Chunmei. 2008. Characteristic pigment analysis and the research of Chemotaxonomic method of typical marine phytoplankton in China seas (in Chinese): [dissertation]. Qingdao: Ocean University of China
Deng Chunmei, Yao Peng, Liu Shuxia, et al. 2010. Advances in pigment analysis and chemotaxonomy of marine phytoplankton. Periodical of Ocean University of China (in Chinese), 40(4): 091–098
Descy J P, Higgins H W, Mackey D J, et al. 2000. Pigment ratios and phytoplankton assessment in Northern Wisconsin Lakes. Journal of Phycology, 36: 274–286
Falkowski P G. 1980. Light-shade adaptation in marine phytoplankton. In: Falkowsk P G, ed. Primary Productivity in the Sea. New York: Plenum Press, 99–119
Fujiki T, Matsumoto K, Honda M C, et al. 2009. Phytoplankton composition in the subarctic North Pacific during autumn 2005. Journal of Plankton Research, 31(2): 179–191
Furuya K, Hayashi M, Yabushita Y, et al. 2003. Phytoplankton dynamics in the East China Sea in spring and summer as revealed by HPLC-derived pigments signatures. Deep-Sea Research II, 50: 367–387
Goericke R, Montoya J P. 1998. Estimating the contribution of microalgal taxa to chlorophyll a in the field-variations of pigment ratios under nutrientand light-limited growth. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 169: 97–112
Guillard R R, Ryther J H. 1962. Studies of marine planktonic diatoms: I. Cyclotella nana Hustedt and Detonula confervaceae (Cleve). Gran. Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 8(2): 229–239
Harris G N, Scanlan D J, Geider R J. 2009. Responses of Emiliania huxleyi (Prymnesiophyceae) to step changes in photons flux density. European Journal of Phycology, 44: 31–48
He Shanying, Yu Zhigang, Mi Tiezhu. 2007. Development of a real-time PCR method for Thalassiosira rotula rapid detection. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 26(2): 133–139
Heisler J, Glibert P M, Burkholder J M, et al. 2008. Eutrophication and harmful algal blooms: A scientific consensus. Harmful Algae, 8: 3–13
Henriksen P, Riemann B, Kaas H, et al. 2002. Effects of nutrient-limitation and irradiance on marine phytoplankton pigments. Journal of Plankton Research, 24(9): 835–858
Hill V, Cota G, Stockwell D. 2005. Spring and summer phytoplankton communities in the Chukchi and Eastern Beaufort Seas. Deep-Sea Research II, 52: 3369–3385
Hou Jianjun, Huang Bangqin, Cao Zhenrui, et al. 2007. Effects of Nutrient Limitation on Pigments in Thalassiosira weissflogii and Prorocentrum donghaiense. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 49(5): 1–5
Jeffrey S W. 1997. Chlorophyll and carotenoid extinction coefficients. In: Jeffrey S W, Mantoura R F C, Wright S W, eds. Phytoplankton pigments in oceanography: guidelines to modern methods. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 595–596
Jeffrey S W, Hallegraeff G M. 1987. Chlorophyllase distribution in ten classes of phytoplankton: a problem for chlorophyll analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 35: 293–304
Jeffrey S W, Wright S W. 2006. Photosynthetic Pigments in Marine Microalgae: insights from cultures and the sea. In: Rao S D V, ed. Algal Cultures, Analogues of Blooms and Applications. Enfield: Science Publishers, 33–90
Latasa M. 1995. Pigment composition of Heterocapsa sp. and Thalassiosira weissflogii growing in batch cultures under different irradiances. Scientia Marina, 59(1): 25–37
Laws E A, Bannister T T. 1980. Nutrient- and lightlimited growth of Thalassiosira fluviatilis in continuous culture, with implications for phytoplankton growth in the ocean. Limnology and Oceanography, 25: 457–473
Lewitus A J, White D L, Tymowski R G, et al. 2005. Adapting the CHEMTAX method for assessing phytoplankton taxonomic composition in Southeastern U.S. Estuaries. Estuaries, 28(1): 160–172
Lionard M, Muylaert K, Tackx M, et al. 2008. Evaluation of the performance of HPLC-CHEMTAX analysis for determining phytoplankton biomass and composition in a turbid estuary (Schelde, Belgium). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 76: 809–817
Llewellyn C A, Gibb S W. 2000. Intra-class variability in the carbon, pigment and biomineral content of prymnesiophytes and diatoms. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 193: 33–44
Lu Douding, Goebel J, Qi Yuzao, et al., 2005. Morphological and genetic study of Prorocentrum donghaiense Lu from the East China Sea, and comparison with some related Prorocentrum species. Harmful Algae, 4: 493–505
Lü Songhui, Li Ying. 2006. Nutritional storage ability of four harmful algae from the East China Sea. The Chinese Journal of Process Engineering (in Chinese), 6: 439–444
Mackey D J, Higgins H W, Mackey D J, et al., 1998. Algal class abundances in the western equatorial Pacific: Estimation from HPLC measurements of chloroplast pigments using CHEMTAX. Deep-Sea Research I, 45: 1441–1468
Mackey M D, Mackey D J, Higgins H W, et al. 1996. CHEMTAX—a program for estimating class abundances from chemical markers: application to HPLC measurements of phytoplankton. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 144: 265–283
Millie D F, Schofield O M, Kirkpatrick G J, et al. 1997. Detection of harmful algal bloom using photopigments and absorption signatures: A case study of the Florida red tide dinoflagellate, Gymnodinium breve. Limnology and Oceanography, 42(5): 1240–1251
Örnólfsdóttir E B, Pinckney J L, Tester P A. 2003. Quantification of the relative abundance of the toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis (Dinophyta) using unique photopigments. Journal of Phycology, 39: 449–457
Schlüter L, Lauridsen T L, Krogh G, et al. 2006. Identification and quantification of phytoplankton groups in lakes using new pigment ratios—a comparison between pigment analysis by HPLC and microscopy. Freshwater Biology, 51: 1474–1485
Schlüter L, Møhlenberg F, Havskum H, et al. 2000. The use of phytoplankton pigments for identifying and quantifying phytoplankton groups in coastal areas: testing the influence of light and nutrients on pigment/chlorophyll a ratios. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 192: 49–63
Seoane S, Zapata M, Orive E. 2009. Growth rates and pigment patterns of haptophytes isolated from estuarine waters. Journal of Sea Research, 62: 286–294
Stolte W, Kraay G W, Noordeloos A A M, et al. 2000. Genetic and physiological variation in pigment composition of Emiliania Huxleyi (Prymnesiophyceae) and the potential use of its pigment ratios as a quantitative physiological marker. Journal of Phycology, 36: 529–539
Sun Jun, Liu Dongyan, Qian Shuben. 1999. Study on phytoplankton biomass I. Phytoplankton measurement biomass from cell volume or plasma volume. Acta Oceanologica Sinica (in Chinese), 21(2): 75–85
Tang K W. 2003. Grazing and colony size development in Phaeocystis globosa (Prymnesiophyceae): the role of a chemical signal. Journal of Plankton Research, 25: 831–842
Ulrich R M, Casper E T, Campbell L, et al. 2010. Detection and quantification of Karenia mikimotoi using real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplication with internal control RNA(IC-NASBA). Harmful Algae, 9: 116–122
Wong C K, Wong C K. 2009. Characteristics of phytoplankton community structure during and after a bloom of the Dinoflagellate Scrippsiella trochoidea by HPLC pigment analysis. Journal of Ocean University of China, 8(2): 141–149
Wright S W, Jeffrey S W. 2006. Pigment Markers for Phytoplankton Production. In: Volkman J K, ed. Marine Organic Matter: Biomarkers, Isotopes and DNA, the Handbook of Environmental Chemistry. v 2N. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer, 71–104
Yao Peng, Yu Zhigang, Deng Chunmei. 2006. Pigment signatures of some diatoms isolated from China seas. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 25(1): 108–118
Yu Ping. 2005. Effect of temperature, irradiance and population interaction on the growth of phytoplankton of East China Sea (in Chinese): [dissertation]. Qingdao: Ocean University of China
Zapata M, Rodríguez F, Garrido J L. 2000. Separation of chlorophylls and carotenoids from marine phytoplankton: a new HPLC method using a reversed phase C8 column and pyridine containing mobile phases. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 195: 29–45
Zapata M, Jeffrey S W, Wright S W, et al. 2004. Photosynthetic pigments in 37 species (65 strains) of Haptophyta: implications for oceanography and chemotaxonomy. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 270: 83–102
Zhao Liyuan, Mi Tiezhu, Zhen Yu, et al. 2009. Cloning of proliferating cell nuclear antigen gene from the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum donghaiense and monitoring its expression profiles by real-time RT-PCR. Hydrobiologia, 627: 19–30
Zhen Yu, Mi Tiezhu, Yu Zhigang. 2008. Detection of Phaeocystis globosa using sandwich hybridization integrated with nuclease protection assay (NPA-SH). Journal of Environmental Sciences, 20(12): 1481–1486
Zhen Yu, Mi Tiezhu, Yu Zhigang. 2009. Detection of several harmful algal species by sandwich hybridization integrated with a nuclease protection assay. Harmful Algae, 8: 651–657
Zhu Mingyuan, Xu Zongjun, Li Ruixiang, et al. 2009. Interspecies competition for nutrients between Prorocentrum donghaiense Lu and Skeletonema costatum (Grev.) Cleve in mesocosm experiments. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 28(1): 72–82
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under contract Nos 40806029 and 40676068; the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863) under contract No. 2006AA09Z178.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, S., Yu, Z., Yao, P. et al. Effects of irradiance on pigment signatures of harmful algae during growth process. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 30, 46–57 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-011-0160-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-011-0160-1