Photoregulation in a Kleptochloroplastidic Dinoflagellate, Dinophysis acuta

Per J. Hansen, Karin Ojamäe, Terje Berge, Erik C. L. Trampe, Lasse T. Nielsen, Inga Lips, Michael Kühl

Some phagotrophic organisms can retain chloroplasts of their photosynthetic prey as so-called kleptochloroplasts and maintain their function for shorter or longer periods of time. Here we show for the first time that the dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuta takes control over "third-hand" chloroplasts obtained from its ciliate prey Mesodinium spp. that originally ingested the cryptophyte chloroplasts. With its kleptochloroplasts, D. acuta can synthesize photosynthetic as well as photoprotective pigments under long-term starvation in the light. Variable chlorophyll fluorescence measurements showed that the kleptochloroplasts were fully functional during 1 month of prey starvation, while the chlorophyll a-specific inorganic carbon uptake decreased within days of prey starvation under an irradiance of 100 μmol photons m(-2) s(-1). While D. acuta cells can regulate their pigmentation and function of kleptochloroplasts they apparently lose the ability to maintain high inorganic carbon fixation rates.