Multimodal non-invasive probing of stress-induced carotenogenesis in the cells of microalga Bracteacoccus aggregatus.

Microalgae are the richest source of natural carotenoids-accessory photosynthetic pigments used as natural antioxidants, safe colorants, and nutraceuticals. Microalga Bracteacoccus aggregatus IPPAS C-2045 responds to stresses, including high light, with carotenogenesis-gross accumulation of secondary carotenoids (the carotenoids structurally and energetically uncoupled from photosynthesis). Precise mechanisms of cytoplasmic transport and subcellular distribution of the secondary carotenoids under stress are still unknown.

Interactive Effects of Ceftriaxone and Chitosan Immobilization on the Production of Arachidonic Acid by and the Microbiome of the Chlorophyte sp. IPPAS C-2047.

Pharmaceuticals including antibiotics are among the hazardous micropollutants (HMP) of the environment. Incomplete degradation of the HMP leads to their persistence in water bodies causing a plethora of deleterious effects. Conventional wastewater treatment cannot remove HMP completely and a promising alternative comprises biotechnologies based on microalgae.

Failure of Phosphate Resilience upon Abrupt Re-Feeding of Its Phosphorus-Starved Cultures.

Microalgae are naturally adapted to the fluctuating availability of phosphorus (P) to opportunistically uptake large amounts of inorganic phosphate (P) and safely store it in the cell as polyphosphate. Hence, many microalgal species are remarkably resilient to high concentrations of external P. Here, we report on an exception from this pattern comprised by a failure of the high P-resilience in strain IPPAS C-2056 normally coping with very high P concentrations.

Effect of Abscisic Acid on Growth, Fatty Acid Profile, and Pigment Composition of the Chlorophyte and Its Co-Culture Microbiome.

Microalga has been gaining increasing attention of investigators as a potential competitor to for astaxanthin and other xanthophylls production. Phytohormones, including abscisic acid (ABA), at concentrations relevant to that in hydroponic wastewater, have proven themselves as strong inductors of microalgae biomass productivity and biosynthesis of valuable molecules. The main goal of this research was to evaluate the influence of phytohormone ABA on the physiology of in a non-aseptic batch experiment.

Photosynthetic and ultrastructural responses of the chlorophyte Lobosphaera to the stress caused by a high exogenic phosphate concentration.

Biotechnology of microalgae holds promise for sustainable using of phosphorus, a finite non-renewable resource. Responses of the green microalga Lobosphaera sp. IPPAS C-2047 to elevated inorganic phosphate (P) concentrations were studied.

The Effect of Chilling on the Photosynthetic Apparatus of Microalga Lobosphaera incisa IPPAS C-2047.

Photosynthetic organisms have developed a set of mechanisms aimed at preventing photo-oxidative reactions in the photosynthetic apparatus (PSA) initiated by excessively absorbed light energy. Along with high irradiance, other stressors, e.g.

Combined Production of Astaxanthin and β-Carotene in a New Strain of the Microalga BM5/15 (IPPAS C-2045) Cultivated in Photobioreactor.

Carotenoids astaxanthin and β-carotene are widely used natural antioxidants. They are key components of functional food, cosmetics, drugs and animal feeding. They hold leader positions on the world carotenoid market.

Phosphorus Feast and Famine in Cyanobacteria: Is Luxury Uptake of the Nutrient Just a Consequence of Acclimation to Its Shortage?

To cope with fluctuating phosphorus (P) availability, cyanobacteria developed diverse acclimations, including luxury P uptake (LPU)-taking up P in excess of the current metabolic demand. LPU is underexplored, despite its importance for nutrient-driven rearrangements in aquatic ecosystems. We studied the LPU after the refeeding of P-deprived cyanobacterium sp.

Cationic penetrating antioxidants switch off Mn cluster of photosystem II in situ.

Mitochondria-targeted antioxidants (also known as 'Skulachev Ions' electrophoretically accumulated by mitochondria) exert anti-ageing and ROS-protecting effects well documented in animal and human cells. However, their effects on chloroplast in photosynthetic cells and corresponding mechanisms are scarcely known. For the first time, we describe a dramatic quenching effect of (10-(6-plastoquinonyl)decyl triphenylphosphonium (SkQ1) on chlorophyll fluorescence, apparently mediated by redox interaction of SkQ1 with Mn cluster in Photosystem II (PSII) of chlorophyte microalga Chlorella vulgaris and disabling the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC).

Stress-induced changes in the ultrastructure of the photosynthetic apparatus of green microalgae.

In photosynthetic organisms including unicellular algae, acclimation to and damage by environmental stresses are readily apparent at the level of the photosynthetic apparatus. Phenotypic manifestations of the stress responses include rapid and dramatic reduction of photosynthetic activity and pigment content aimed at mitigating the risk of photooxidative damage. Although the physiological and molecular mechanisms of these events are well known, the ultrastructural picture of the stress responses is often elusive and frequently controversial.

In situ optical properties of foliar flavonoids: Implication for non-destructive estimation of flavonoid content.

Flavonoids are a ubiquitous multifunctional group of phenolics of paramount importance for the terrestrial plants involved in protection from biotic and abiotic stresses, color and chemical signaling and other functions. Deciphering of in situ absorption of foliar Flv is important but was thought to be impossible due to a strong overlap with other pigments, complex in situ chemistry of Flv and sophisticated leaf optics. We deduced in situ absorbance of foliar Flv and introduced a concept of specific absorbance spectrum indicative of each pigment group contribution to light absorption and provided a rationale for the choice of spectral bands for non-destructive assessment of Flv in leaves with variable content of other pigments including anthocyanins.

Diversity of the nitrogen starvation responses in subarctic Desmodesmus sp. (Chlorophyceae) strains isolated from symbioses with invertebrates.

We report on common and strain-specific responses to nitrogen (N) starvation recorded in four closely related symbiotic Desmodesmus strains from taxonomically very distant animals (hydroids, a sponge and a polychaete) dwelling in the White Sea. A number of common for the studied strains and free-living microalgae as well as some specific patterns of acclimation to the N starvation were documented. The common responses included a slowdown of cell division, a reduction of photosynthetic apparatus and a vast expansion of storage subcompartments of the cell.

Coordinated rearrangements of assimilatory and storage cell compartments in a nitrogen-starving symbiotic chlorophyte cultivated under high light.

A quantitative micromorphometric study of the cell compartment rearrangements was performed in a symbiotic chlorophyte Desmodesmus sp. 3Dp86E-1 grown on nitrogen (N) replete or N-free medium under 480 μmol PAR quanta m(-2) s(-1). The changes in the chloroplast, intraplastidial, and cytoplasmic inclusions induced by high light (HL) and N starvation were similar to those characteristic of free-living chlorophytes.

Similarity and diversity of the Desmodesmus spp. microalgae isolated from associations with White Sea invertebrates.

Similarity and diversity of the phenotype and nucleotide sequences of certain genome loci among the single-celled microalgae isolated from White Sea benthic invertebrates were studied to extend the knowledge of oxygenic photoautotrophs forming microbial communities associated with animals. We compared four Desmodesmus isolates (1Hp86E-2, 1Pm66B, 3Dp86E-1, 2Cl66E) from the sponge Halichondria panicea, trochophore larvae of the polychaete Phyllodoce maculata, and the hydroids Dynamena pumila and Coryne lovenii, respectively. The microalgae appeared to be very similar featuring the phenotypic and genetic traits characteristics of unicellular representatives of the genus Desmodesmus.

Desmodesmus sp. 3Dp86E-1-a novel symbiotic chlorophyte capable of growth on pure CO2.

A novel chlorophyte Desmodesmus sp. 3Dp86E-1 isolated from a White Sea hydroid Dynamena pumila was cultivated at CO2 levels from atmospheric (the 'low-CO2' conditions) to pure carbon dioxide (the 5, 20, and 100 % CO2 conditions) under high (480 μE/(m(2) s) PAR) light. After 7 days of cultivation, the '100 % CO2' (but not 5 or 20 % CO2) cells possessed ca.

Nondestructive estimation of anthocyanins and chlorophylls in anthocyanic leaves.

The anthocyanin and chlorophyll contents in leaves provide valuable information about the physiological status of plants. Thus, there is a need for accurate, efficient, and practical methodologies to estimate these biochemical parameters of vegetation. In this study, we tested the performance and accuracy of several nondestructive, reflectance-based techniques for estimating anthocyanin and chlorophyll contents in leaves of four unrelated species, European hazel (Corylus avellana), Siberian dogwood (Cornus alba =Swida alba), Norway maple (Acer platanoides), and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), with widely variable pigment content and composition.

Light absorption by isolated chloroplasts and leaves: effects of scattering and 'packing'.

Light absorption was quantified in the following systems: isolated chloroplasts and leaves of spinach (Spinacea oleracea L.), a mutant of geranium (Pelargonium zonale L.) widely differing in pigment content, and coleus (Coleus blumei Benth.

Light absorption by anthocyanins in juvenile, stressed, and senescing leaves.

The optical properties of leaves from five species, Norway maple (Acer platanoides L.), cotoneaster (Cotoneaster alaunica Golite), hazel (Corylus avellana L.), Siberian dogwood (Cornus alba L.

Does a leaf absorb radiation in the near infrared (780-900 nm) region? A new approach to quantifying optical reflection, absorption and transmission of leaves.

The following question is addressed here: do healthy leaves absorb, as the spectra published over the last 50 years indicate, some 5-20% of incident radiation in the 780-900 nm region? The answer is found to be negative, and previous findings result from incomplete collection of the transmitted light by the detection system (even when the leaf is placed next to, but outside, the entrance port of an integrating sphere). A simple remedy for this inherent flaw in the experimental arrangement is applied successfully to leaves (of 10 unrelated species) differing in thickness, age and pigment content. The study has shown that, from an optical standpoint, a leaf tissue is a highly scattering material, and the infinite reflectance of a leaf is exceedingly sensitive to trace amounts of absorbing components.

Assessing carotenoid content in plant leaves with reflectance spectroscopy.

Spectral reflectance of maple, chestnut and beech leaves in a wide range of pigment content and composition was investigated to devise a nondestructive technique for total carotenoid (Car) content estimation in higher plant leaves. Reciprocal reflectance in the range 510 to 550 nm was found to be closely related to the total pigment content in leaves. The sensitivity of reciprocal reflectance to Car content was maximal in a spectral range around 510 nm; however, chlorophylls (Chl) also affect reflectance in this spectral range.