Microphotometric analysis of individual particle absorption spectra1

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Abstract
We describe a microphotometric procedure to measure directly the absorption efficiency factor (Qa)a) of individual phytoplankton cells and detrital particles. The technique has spectral resolution comparable to traditional spectrophotometric techniques and allows direct measurement of absorption by the major photosynthetic pigments. This procedure was used to study the photoadaptive response in Qa(λ) for the diatom Navicula saprophila grown at high and low irradiance. Observed spectral flattening of Qa(λ) for the low light culture is interpreted in the context of the theory of absorption by discrete particles, which predicts nonlinearity between Qa and intracellular pigment concentration. Measurement of Qa(λ) for individual field particles revealed great intrasample variability in spectral shape and magnitude.

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