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A mesocosm experiment was conducted in Wuyuan Bay (Xiamen), China to investigate the effects of elevated pCO2 on phytoplankton species and production of dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) as well as four halocarbon compounds (CHBrCl2, CH3Br, CH2Br2, and CH3I). Over a period of 5 weeks, P. tricornutum outcompeted T. weissflogii and E. huxleyi, comprising more than 99 % of the final biomass. During the logarithmic growth phase (phase I), DMS concentrations in high pCO2 mesocosms (1000 µatm) were 28.2 % lower than those in low pCO2 mesocosms (400 µatm). Elevated pCO2 led to a delay in DMSP-consuming bacteria attached to T. weissflogii and P. tricornutum and finally resulted in the delay of DMS concentration in the HC treatment. Unlike DMS, the elevated pCO2 did not affect DMSP production ability of T. weissflogii or P. tricornutum throughout the 5 week culture. A positive relationship was detected between CH3I and T. weissflogii and P. tricornutum during the experiment, and there was a 40.2 % reduction in mean CH3I concentrations in the HC mesocosms. CHBrCl2, CH3Br, and CH2Br2 concentrations did not increase with elevated chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations compared with DMS(P) and CH3I, and there were no major peak in the HC or LC mesocosms. In addition, no effect of elevated pCO2 was identified for any of the three bromocarbons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the biochemical response of freshwater green algae to elevated CO2 concentrations,Chlorella pyrenoidosaChick andChlamydomonas reinhardtiiDang cells were cultured at different CO2 concentrations within the range 3-186ümol/L and the biochemical composition, carbonic anhydrase (CA), and nitrate reductase activities of the cells were investigated. Chlorophylls (Chl), carotenoids, carbonhydrate, and protein contents were enhanced to varying extents with increasing CO2 concentration from 3-186ümol/L. The CO2 enrichment significantly increased the Chl a/Chlbratio inChlorella pyrenoidosa, but not inChlamydomonas reinhardtii.The CO2 concentration had significant effects on CA and nitrate reductase activity. Elevating CO2 concentration to 186ümol/L caused a decline in intracellular and extracellullar CA activity. Nitrate reductase activity, under either light or dark conditions, inC. reinhardtiiandC. pyrenoidosawas also significantly decreased with CO2 enrichment. From this study, it can be concluded that CO2 enrichment can affect biochemical composition, CA, and nitrate reductase activity, and that the biochemical response was species dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyanobacteria are important players in the global carbon cycle, accounting for approximately 25% of global CO2 fixation. Their CO2-concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) are thought to play a key role in cyanobacterial calcification, but the mechanisms are not completely understood. In Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803, a single Ca2+/H+ exchanger (Slr1336) controls the Ca2+/H+ exchange reaction. We knocked out the exchanger and investigated the effects on cyanobacterial calcification and CCMs. Inactivation of slr1336 significantly increased the calcification rate and decreased the zeta potential, indicating a relatively stronger Ca2+-binding ability. Some genes encoding CCM-related components showed increased expression levels, including the cmpA gene, which encodes the Ca2+-dependent HCO3- transporter BCT1. The transcript level of cmpA in the mutant was 30 times that in wild type. A Western blot analysis further confirmed that protein levels of CmpA were higher in the mutant than the wild type. Measurements of inorganic carbon fluxes and O2 evolution proved that both the net HCO3- uptake rate and the BCT1 transporter supported photosynthetic rate in the slr1336 mutant were significantly higher than in the wild type. This would cause the mutant cells to liberate more OH- ions out of the cell and stimulate CaCO3 precipitation in the microenvironment. We conclude that the mutation of the Ca2+/H+ exchanger in Synechocystis promoted the cyanobacterial calcification process by upregulating CCMs, especially the BCT1 HCO3- transporter. These results shed new light on the mechanism by which CCM-facilitated photosynthesis promotes cyanobacterial calcification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]