Photosynthetic responses of thalli and isolated protoplasts of Bryopsis hypnoides (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta) during dehydration

摘要

Bryopsis hypnoides Lamouroux is a unique intertidal siphonous green alga whose extruded protoplasm can aggregate spontaneously in seawater to form numerous new cells that can develop into mature algal thalli. In this study, the photosynthetic responses during dehydration of both the thalli and protoplasts isolated from B. hypnoides were measured using a Dual-PAM (pulse amplitude modulation)-100 fluorometer. The results show that the photosynthetic rates of B. hypnoides thalli were maintained for an initial period, beyond which continued desiccation resulted in reduced rates of PSI and PSII. However, the photosynthetic performances of the isolated protoplasts dehydrated in air (CO2 concentration 600–700 mg/L) showed a slight increase of Y(II) at 20% water loss, but the rates decreased thereafter with declining water content. When protoplasts were dehydrated in CO2 deficient conditions (CO2 concentration 40–80 mg/L), the values of Y(II) declined steadily with increased dehydration without an initial rise. These results indicated that the thalli and isolated protoplasts of this alga can utilize CO2 in ambient air effectively, and the photosynthetic performances of the isolated protoplasts were significantly different from that of the thalli during dehydration. Thus the protoplasts may be an excellent system for the study of stress tolerance.