SURVIVAL OF <i>SCENEDESMUS ACUMINATUS</i> (CHLOROPHYCEAE) IN DARKNESS<sup>1</sup>

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<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>Survival of the green alga Scenedesmus acuminatus Lagerh. in complete darkness was studied in axenic batch cultures at 7°C and 22°C for three months. The decrease in cell numbers was insensitive to temperature and slower than the loss of dry weight. However, the lag phase before cells began to lyse was more than twice as long at 7° C than at 22°C. The decline in cellular carbohydrates and proteins occurred in two phases. During the first 3‐4 days, the decrease in cellular carbohydrate levels was significantly accelerated and temperature‐sensitive. Pyrenoids disappeared within 5 days of darkness. Proteins showed 20‐fold higher degradation rates at 22°C than at 7°C during the first 4 days. Thereafter, the rates of carbohydrate and protein decomposition were slow and temperature‐independent. By contrast, lipids degraded only little at virtually constant and temperature‐insensitive rates over the entire experimental period.</jats:p><jats:p>After three months of dark incubation, about 40% of the remaining cells had retained their growth potential. However, the lag phase, after which cell division was resumed when exposed to light, increased with the duration of the previous dark period. The decrease in photo synthetic potential, which was more pronounced at 22° C than at 7° C, was apparent both in declining maximum assimilation numbers and maximum quantum yields. Cellular chlorophyll a concentrations in surviving cells decreased only slightly.</jats:p><jats:p>We conclude that the primary means by which <jats:italic>S. acuminatus</jats:italic> survives extended dark periods is by reduction of catabolic reactions. This was suggested by the slow loss of cell weight. No evidence of significant heterotrophic acetate uptake was found. The initial temperature‐dependence of most observed processes indicates that in natural environments chances for survival of algae are augmented by the prevailing low water temperatures.</jats:p>

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