Reversible coupling of individual phycobiliprotein isoforms during state transitions in the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium analysed by single-cell fluorescence kinetic measurements.

In the non-heterocyst, marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium nitrogen fixation is confined to the photoperiod and occurs coevally with oxygenic photosynthesis although nitrogenase is irreversibly inactivated by oxygen. In previous studies it was found that regulation of photosynthesis for nitrogen fixation involves Mehler reaction and various activity states with reversible coupling of photosynthetic components. We now investigated these activity states in more detail.

Iron limitation in the marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium reveals new insights into regulation of photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation.

* As iron (Fe) deficiency is a main limiting factor of ocean productivity, its effects were investigated on interactions between photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in the marine nonheterocystous diazotrophic cyanobacterium Trichodesmium IMS101. * Biophysical methods such as fluorescence kinetic microscopy, fast repetition rate (FRR) fluorimetry, and in vivo and in vitro spectroscopy of pigment composition were used, and nitrogenase activity and the abundance of key proteins were measured. * Fe limitation caused a fast down-regulation of nitrogenase activity and protein levels.

Cadmium-induced inhibition of photosynthesis and long-term acclimation to cadmium stress in the hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens.

Acclimation of hyperaccumulators to heavy metal-induced stress is crucial for phytoremediation and was investigated using the hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens and the nonaccumulators T. fendleri and T. ochroleucum.

The photosynthesis of individual algal cells during the cell cycle of Scenedesmus quadricauda studied by chlorophyll fluorescence kinetic microscopy.

A microscope for imaging of chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics was equipped with a chamber that allows the growth of an immobilised population of algae and their study under well-defined conditions. Single cells of the chlorococcal alga Scenedesmus quadricauda were grown and recorded for periods of whole cell cycles (up to 48 h) displaying a normal course of cell development. Heterogeneity in fluorescence yield among individual coenobia in the population and among different cells in one coenobium were analysed.

Traffic lights in trichodesmium. Regulation of photosynthesis for nitrogen fixation studied by chlorophyll fluorescence kinetic microscopy.

We investigated interactions between photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in the non-heterocystous marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium IMS101 at the single-cell level by two-dimensional (imaging) microscopic measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics. Nitrogen fixation was closely associated with the appearance of cells with high basic fluorescence yield (F(0)), termed bright cells. In cultures aerated with normal air, both nitrogen fixation and bright cells appeared in the middle of the light phase.