Summary
The effect of photon fluence rate on the ß-dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) content of salt-stressed eulittoral green macroalgae from different geographic regions was determined. At 55 μmol photons m−2s−1 DMSP increased continuously with increasing salinities up to 68‰ in Ulothrix implexa, Ulothrix subflaccida, Enteromorpha bulbosa and Acrosiphonia arcta from Antarctica, while the Subantarctic/cold-temperate Ulva rigida and the temperate Blidingia minima showed a large rise in intracellular DMSP concentration only under gentle hypersaline treatment (51‰). At the highest salinity tested the DMSP content of the latter species declined. In contrast, the capacity to form DMSP in the dark under hypersaline conditions was very low in all species. In addition, the DMSP content of the Antarctic species was determined after one year cultivation at 0°C under photon fluence rates of 2, 30 and 55 μmol m−2s−1. All isolates increased their DMSP concentration with increasing irradiance. In contrast to previous experiments done at 10°C, these species exhibited up to 5 fold higher DMSP values at 0°C under most photon fluence rates. The data support the idea of a light-dependent DMSP biosynthesis, and also demonstrate the stimulating effect of low water temperatures on the DMSP content of Antarctic green macroalgae. Apparently, in these plants DMSP may function as a cryoprotectant.
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Contribution No. 547 of the Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven
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Karsten, U., Kirst, G.O. & Wiencke, C. Dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) accumulation in green macioalgae from polar to temperate regions: interactive effects of light versus salinity and light versus temperature. Polar Biol 12, 603–607 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236983
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236983