Differential acclimation kinetics of the two forms of type IV chromatic acclimaters occurring in marine Synechococcus cyanobacteria

Synechococcus, the second most abundant marine phytoplanktonic organism, displays the widest variety of pigment content of all marine oxyphototrophs, explaining its ability to colonize all spectral niches occurring in the upper lit layer of oceans. Seven Synechococcus pigment types (PTs) have been described so far based on the phycobiliprotein composition and chromophorylation of their light-harvesting complexes, called phycobilisomes. The most elaborate and abundant PT (3d) in the open ocean consists of cells capable of type IV chromatic acclimation (CA4), i.e., to reversibly modify the ratio of the blue light-absorbing phycourobilin (PUB) to the green light-absorbing phycoerythrobilin (PEB) in phycobilisome rods to match the ambient light color. Two genetically distinct types of chromatic acclimaters, so-called PTs 3dA and 3dB, occur at similar global abundance in the ocean, but the precise physiological differences between these two types and the reasons for their complementary niche partitioning in the field remain obscure. Here, photoacclimation experiments in different mixes of blue and green light of representatives of these two PTs demonstrated that they differ by the ratio of blue-to-green light required to trigger the CA4 process. Furthermore, shift experiments between 100% blue and 100% green light, and vice-versa, revealed significant discrepancies between the acclimation pace of the two types of chromatic acclimaters. This study provides novel insights into the finely tuned adaptation mechanisms used by Synechococcus cells to colonize the whole underwater light field

Microwave imaging of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities in fusion plasma

Microwave imaging diagnostics are extremely useful for observing magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in magnetic fusion plasmas. Two imaging diagnostics will be available on the WEST tokamak. A method was developed to reconstruct electron density maps from electron density profiles measured by ultrafast reflectometry, a technique based on FM-CW radar principle. It relies on plasma rotation to perform 2D reconstruction. An Electron Cyclotron Emission Imaging (ECEI) diagnostic will image directly the temperature fluctuations. It will be equivalent to 24 stacked vertically radiometers, each probing a spot of few centimetres. These two complementary techniques will contribute to the validation of MHD models.ope

Transport barrier onset and edge turbulence shortfall in fusion plasmas

Turbulent plasmas notably self-organize to higher energy states upon application of additional free energy sources or modification of edge operating conditions. Mechanisms whereby such bifurcations occur have been actively debated for decades. Enhanced confinement occurs at the plasma edge, where a shortfall of predicted turbulence intensity has been puzzling scientists for decades. We show, from the primitive kinetic equations that both problems are connected and that interplay of confined plasma turbulence with its material boundaries is essential to curing the shortfall of predicted turbulence and to triggering spontaneous transport barrier onset at the plasma edge. Both problems determine access to improved confinement and are central to fusion research. A comprehensive discussion of the underlying mechanisms is proposed. These results, highly relevant to the quest for magnetic fusion may also be generic to many problems in fluids and plasmas where turbulence self-advection is active

Turbulence correlation properties measured with ultrafast sweeping reflectometry on Tore Supra

The ultrafast sweep reflectometry technique is used to investigate plasma turbulence on Tore Supra. Thanks to the X-mode polarization, the plasma density and fluctuations over the whole tokamak radius, from the far scrape-off layer (SOL) to the core can be measured. Cross-correlation analysis is applied to all the signal components to estimate the fluctuation correlation length radial profile. The correlation length decreases from the plasma centre to the last closed flux surface and grows again into the far SOL

Romania (2011)" An Optimal Feedback Approach to Particle Source Identification in Tokamaks

Abstract—A new identification technique is proposed to study the plasma phenomena taking place in the so-called scrapeoff layer and their correlation with the lower hybrid radio frequency antenna in the experimental nuclear fusion tokamak reactor Tore Supra. A deeper knowledge of the plasma behavior in this region would contribute to the achievement of steadystate controlled thermonuclear fusion for power generation. The proposed approach relies on the design of a feedback/feedforward optimized architecture to solve a blind identification problem. While our paper is mostly focused on experimental results for the studied application, it can provide valuable insights on input estimation and model validation for transport phenomena described by partial differential equations

Electrondensity profiles measurements by micro wave reflectometry in front of a lower hybrid plasma heating system

International audienceA tokamak is a magnetic confinement fusion device which aims to generate electricity from fusion reactions To achieve is goal, the plasma contained inside the tokamak must be heated to extremely high temperature