[en] In photoautotophically air-grown microalgae, CO2 availability is usually limited. The unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii can adapt to low CO2 concentration with the inorganic carbon concentration mechanism (CCM). This has been extensively studied in the past but functional adaptation of the photosynthetic apparatus has been less studied.
Photosynthetic organisms can cope with CO2 limitation by dissipating excess absorbed energy with the help of different energy dissipating mechanisms like energy-dependent non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, this process only seems to develop to high levels in extreme conditions combining high light and strong CO2 limitation. Under moderate CO2 limitation, absence of important energy-dependent NPQ suggests the development of another energy dissipating mechanism.
We compared the growth and functional adaptations of the photosynthetic apparatus of the wild-type strain 1690 grown in photobioreactor under low and high CO2 bubbling, 0.039% and 10%, respectively.
Under low CO2, where growth was 2 to 4 times slower than under high CO2, the non-linear relationship between electron transport rate (derived from PAM fluorescence measurements) and gross oxygen evolution rate suggested that a significant portion of the electron flux is directed to oxygen at light intensities approaching photosynthetic saturation (either at PSI or at PTOX). The use of the mutant strain PTOX2 indicated that O2 reduction occurs mainly at PSI and not at PTOX.
Low temperature fluorescence emission spectra indicated no significant difference in excitation energy distribution between PSI and PSII. Western blot analysis showed no major differences in abundance of Rubisco or of photosystem subunits between the two conditions. In contrast, cytochrome f abundance was lower in high CO2 condition. Although energy-dependent NPQ remained weak, low CO2 cells were characterized by a higher xanthophyll deepoxydation index which usually indicates more dissipation as heat, as also suggested by increased Lhcsr3 expression.
Despite a higher ATP requirement of the CCM mechanism in low CO2 condition, only minor difference in cyclic electron transport could be found if compared to high CO2 condition (as determined by P700 spectroscopic measurements).
In Chlamydomonas, conflicting views were expressed in earlier studies on the amplitude and role of Mehler-type O2-uptake at steady state. Our analysis of oxygen evolution, electron transport and NPQ after growth under different combinations of light intensities and CO2 supply rates allows us to define Mehler-type alternative electron transport as an important and flexible response to photosynthetic electron transport saturation in Chlamydomonas.
