Blommaert, L.

Sabbe, K.

Vannerum, K.

Vyverman, W.

Open Marine Archive

Light stress in intertidal diatoms: a comparative molecular and 
ecophysiological study 
Blommaert Lander, Katrijn Vannerum, Wim Vyverman and Koen Sabbe 
Protistology & Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Ghent University, UGent, Krijgslaan 281,  
B-9000 Ghent, Belgium 
E-mail: Lander.blommaert@ugent.be   
Intertidal sediments are extreme environments, characterized by rapid changes in environmental 
conditions such  as irradiance as a result of the interplay of tides, weather and biology. 
Nevertheless, intertidal sediments belong to the most productive systems on Earth (Underwood  and 
Kromkamp, 1999) owing to the primary production of microphytobenthos, sediment-inhabiting 
micro-algae, (Cook et al., 2007). Benthic diatoms thriving in these conditions can be divided into 
three groups: The epipelon, which consists of motile diatoms, mainly living on silty sediments, the 
epipsammon which are immotile and live attached to sand grains and the tychoplankton, which can 
be found both on the sediment as in the water column. As these groups show marked differences in 
life style, they are expected to show different responses in coping with intense light and rapid 
fluctuations in light climate. In this study we compared the response to high light of the model 
tychoplanktic diatom (Phaeodactylum tricornutum) and the recently sequenced epipelic diatom 
Seminavis robusta. Our study revealed pronounced differences in photophysiology and expression 
of genes involved in photosynthesis in both diatoms when exposed to high light. Our study is the 
first to describe the molecular acclimation of an epipelic diatom and reveals a different way to cope 
with high light. Current research focuses on different physiological processed involved.  
 
 
References  
Underwood G.J.C. and J. Kromkamp. 1999. Primary production by phytoplankton and 
Microphytobenthos in estuaries. Advances in Ecological Research 29:93-153. 
Cook P.L.M. and H. Roy. 2006. Advective relief of CO2 limitation in microphytobenthos in highly 
productive sandy sediments. Limnology and Oceanography 51:1594-1601. 
 
 
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Light stress in intertidal diatoms: a comparative molecular and ecophysiological study

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