Probing the effects of high-light stress on pigment and lipid metabolism in nitrogen-starving microalgae by measuring chlorophyll fluorescence transients: Studies with a δ5 desaturase mutant of Parietochloris incisa (Chlorophyta, Trebouxiophyceae)

Alexei Solovchenko, Olga Solovchenko, Inna Khozin-Goldberg, Shoshana Didi-Cohen, Dipasmita Pal, Zvi Cohen, Sammy Boussiba

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigated effects of irradiance on the relationships between chlorophyll fluorescence transients (OJIP), carotenoid-to-chlorophyll ratio, and fatty acids in a nitrogen-deprived Parietochloris incisa (Chlorophyta, Trebouxiophyceae) δ5 desaturase mutant accumulating valuable LC-PUFA dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA). High light (270μE·m-2·s-1 PAR) and nitrogen starvation brought about a decrease in maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (ΦP0) and electron transport (ΦE0) but enhanced the quantum yield of thermal dissipation (ΦD0) and induced non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) in an irradiance-dependent manner. Under high irradiance a decline in the rate of total fatty acid accumulation and DGLA percentage in comparison with the cultures grown under 130μE·m-2·s-1 PAR was recorded. Increasing irradiance from 130 to 270μE·m-2·s-1 enhanced total fatty acid accumulation only within the first week of nitrogen starvation and negatively affected DGLA production. Regardless of irradiance, ΦP0, ΦE0, and ΦD0 exhibited tight (r2=0.8-0.9) relationships with the stress-induced changes of total fatty acid and DGLA content and the carotenoid-to-chlorophyll ratio. The applicability and limitations of OJIP and its derived parameters for on-line monitoring of physiological condition and accumulation of value-added products in microalgal cultures grown in photobioreactors are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)175-182
Number of pages8
JournalAlgal Research
Volume2
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2013

Keywords

  • Chlorophyll fluorescence transient
  • Dihomo-γ-linolenic acid
  • Nitrogen deficiency
  • OJIP
  • On-line monitoring
  • Parietochloris incisa

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agronomy and Crop Science

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