Abstract
The cyanobacterium Oscillatoria agardhii was grown in continuous culture under various light conditions in order to study the interactions of light on phosphorus-limited growth. Under severe P-limiting (light-saturating) conditions, a low chlorophyll a and C-phycocyanin content was found. In addition, the light-harvesting capacity, reflected in the values of P max (maximum light-saturated oxygen production rate) and α (photosynthetic affinity), were low compared to light-limited cultures.
Reduction of the light climate, either by reduction of the length of the photoperiod or light-intensity, resulted in an increase in light-harvesting capacity (higher pigment content, P m and α) during growth under P-limiting conditions. Light-induced changes in P max and α could be related to the relative growth rate, being the actual growth rate as a fraction of the growth rate which would be observed under light-limiting conditions.
Under P-limiting conditions, reduction of the light-climate caused a reduction in dry weight of the culture. This decrease was mainly due to a decrease in carbohydrate content of the cells. Under all conditions tested, carbohydrates were found to accumulate during the light-period and to be consumed during the dark-period.
Evaluation of carbohydrate consumption in the dark yielded a specific maintenance rate constant of 0.001 h-1. This observation leads to the conclusion that the specific maintenance rate constant is independent on the character of the growth rate limiting nutrient for O. agardhii.
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Riegman, R., Rutgers, M. & Mur, R.R. Effects of photoperiodicity and light irradiance on phosphate-limited Oscillatoria agardhii in chemostat cultures. Arch. Microbiol. 142, 66–71 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00409239
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00409239