Enhanced photosynthetic linear electron flow in mixotrophic green microalga Ettlia oleoabundans UTEX 1185

Basic understanding of the photosynthetic physiology of the oleaginous green microalga Ettlia oleoabundans is still very limited, including the modulation of the photosynthetic membrane upon metabolism conversion from autotrophy to mixotrophy. It was previously reported that, upon glucose supply in the culture medium, E. oleoabundans preserves photosystem II (PSII) from degradation by virtue of a higher packing of thylakoid complexes. In this work, it was investigated whether in the mixotrophic exponential growth phase the PSII activity is merely preserved or even enhanced. Modulated fluorescence parameters were then recorded under short-term treatments with increasing irradiance values of white light. It was found that the mixotrophic microalga down-regulated the chlororespiratory electron recycling from photosystem I (PSI), but enhanced the linear electron flow from PSII to PSI. Ability to keep PSII more open than in autotrophic growth conditions indicated that the respiration of the glucose taken up from the medium fed the carbon fixing reactions with CO₂. The overall electron poise was indeed well regulated, with a lesser need for thermal dissipation of excess absorbed energy. It is proposed that the significant, though small, increase in PSII maximum quantum yield in mixotrophic cells just reflects an improved light energy use and an increased photochemical capacity as compared to the autotrophic cells.