Photoinhibition assays
Short-term photoinhibitory and recovery treatments were performed on UWO
241 and SAG 49.72 cells grown under control growth conditions according
to T. Pocock et al. (2007). Algal cells were harvested during mid-log
phase of growth and placed under either high light (HL, 300 μmol
m-2 s-1) or low temperature (LT, 2oC) stress for 1 hr. For the HL treatment, cultures
were maintained at their growth temperatures of 8oC
(UWO 241) and 20oC (SAG 49.72). These conditions were
chosen after testing sensitivity of both organisms to a range of light
(50, 300 and 500 μmol m-2 s-1) and
temperature (2 oC, 8 oC and 20oC) treatments over three hours. Following the
photoinhibitory treatment, cells were allowed to recover in the light
(20 µmol m-2 s-1) for 2 hr.
Photoinhibition and recovery was monitored at regular time intervals as
the decline and recovery in FV/FM,
respectively.