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Differences in chloroplast ultrastructure of Phaeocystis antarctica in low and high light

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Abstract

Phaeocystis antarctica Karsten exhibits optical changes in pigment packaging during acclimation to drastically different light levels. Here, the three-dimensional morphological rearrangements are shown for two light conditions mimicking limiting and saturating conditions for photosynthesis. Cultures of P. antarctica were grown semi-continuously under light-limiting conditions for growth (14 μmol quanta m−2 s−1) and a light-saturating condition (259 μmol quanta m−2 s−1) for growth. Increased numbers of thylakoids were observed under the low light treatment. In contrast, there were less amounts of thylakoid stacking in each chloroplast under the high light treatment. Electron microscopic tomographic reconstructions illustrate the complexity of the chloroplast organelle where the thylakoids ‘interact’ with the pyrenoid and the chloroplast membrane. Highly complex characteristics, such as bi- and tri-furcations in the thylakoid stacks, were continuous throughout the chloroplast. Other organelles, such as the Golgi apparatus and dense vesicles that may potentially affect cellular scattering and absorption were also observed in both high and low light. These three dimensional thylakoid arrangements have profound implications for cellular photophysiology. They represent a new view of algal chloroplast structure, and provide a starting point for more accurate optical modeling studies.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Steve Barlow for help with preparation of samples for EM, Ying Jones for assistance with sectioning as well as William Schmidt, Benjamin Philmus, Neil Bonsteel, and Rocco Greco for tracing of thylakoids. We thank Steve Lamont for help with computational methods and Maryanne Martone for many helpful and insightful discussions. We thank Piotr Flatau for many inspirational discussions. We especially thank the two reviewers for improving our manuscript. This work was supported by NASA grants 972-274-45-00-01 and 972-622-52-50-02 (TAM) and MCB 9728338, 0131425 (GES). This work was in part supported by a NASA Level I Congressional Milestone. We thank Richard Mitchell and Robert N. Swift for computer assistance. The electron tomography work described in this paper was conducted at the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at San Diego, which is supported by National Institutes of Health Grant RR04050 awarded to M.H.E. The CCDB is supported by NIH Human Brain Project Grant DA016602.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Wallops Island, VA, 23337, USA

    Tiffany A. Moisan

  2. National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, Department of Neurosciences and the Center for Research on Biological Systems, University of California, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0608, USA

    Mark H. Ellisman, Casey W. Buitenhuys & Gina E. Sosinsky

Authors
  1. Tiffany A. Moisan
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  2. Mark H. Ellisman
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  3. Casey W. Buitenhuys
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  4. Gina E. Sosinsky
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tiffany A. Moisan.

Additional information

Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick

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Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Supplemental on-line figure

Flowchart of methods used for electron tomography starting with preparation of cells for electron microscopy and ending with analysis of three-dimensional structures. Letters on images at top, right, and bottom correspond to steps in flowchart at left. See Materials and methods for more details

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Moisan, T.A., Ellisman, M.H., Buitenhuys, C.W. et al. Differences in chloroplast ultrastructure of Phaeocystis antarctica in low and high light. Mar Biol 149, 1281–1290 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0321-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0321-5

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