AUTHOR=Hansen Per J. , Ojamäe Karin , Berge Terje , Trampe Erik C. L. , Nielsen Lasse T. , Lips Inga , Kühl Michael
TITLE=Photoregulation in a Kleptochloroplastidic Dinoflagellate, Dinophysis acuta
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology
VOLUME=7
YEAR=2016
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00785
DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.00785
ISSN=1664-302X
ABSTRACT=
Some phagotrophic organisms can retain chloroplasts of their photosynthetic prey as so-called kleptochloroplasts and maintain their function for shorter or longer periods of time. Here we show for the first time that the dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuta takes control over “third-hand” chloroplasts obtained from its ciliate prey Mesodinium spp. that originally ingested the cryptophyte chloroplasts. With its kleptochloroplasts, D. acuta can synthesize photosynthetic as well as photoprotective pigments under long-term starvation in the light. Variable chlorophyll fluorescence measurements showed that the kleptochloroplasts were fully functional during 1 month of prey starvation, while the chlorophyll a-specific inorganic carbon uptake decreased within days of prey starvation under an irradiance of 100 μmol photons m-2 s-1. While D. acuta cells can regulate their pigmentation and function of kleptochloroplasts they apparently lose the ability to maintain high inorganic carbon fixation rates.