Latest Publications
Genetic and physiological responses to light quality in a deep ocean ecotype of Ostreococcus, an ecologically important photosynthetic picoeukaryote
Elizabeth Sands, Sian Davies, Richard John Puxty, Valerie Vergé, François-Yves Bouget, David John Scanlan, Isabelle Alice Carre
Phytoplankton are exposed to dramatic variations in light quality when cells are carried by upwelling or downwelling currents or encounter sediment. We investigated the potential impact of light quality changes in Ostreococcus, a key marine photosynthetic picoeukaryote, by analysing changes in its transcriptome, pigment content and photophysiology after acclimation to monochromatic red, green or blue lightThe results demonstrate that light quality can have a major influence on the physiology of eukaryotic phytoplankton and suggest that different light quality environments can drive selection for diverse patterns of responsiveness and environmental niche partitioning.