The influence of irradiance on growth, photosynthesis and respiration of Gyrodinium cf. aureolum

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Abstract
The bloom-forming marine dinoflagellate Gyrodinium cf. aureolum was grown in batch cultures over a range of irradiances (35–380μmol m−2 s−1 and growth, photosynthesis and respiration rates determined. Saturation of growth occurred at irradiances of ∼100μmol m−2 s−1 Below this light level, decreases in growth rates and cell size, and a relative increase in carbon specific respiration rates, were observed. On the other hand, photosynthesis-irradiance relationships determined from dissolved oxygen incubations showed that on a cellular and carbon basis, cultures grown at low irradiances had higher rates of light-limited and light-saturated photosynthesis, mainly as a result of large increases in cell chlorophyll content. This adaptation strategy enables low-light-grown organisms to exploit available high irradiance through a relatively high photosynthetic capacity. In cells grown at higher light levels (>100μmol m−2 s−1), excess photosynthate may be diverted to storage rather than used for growth.

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