Description: Elevated CO2 is leading to a decrease in pH in marine environments (ocean acidification [OA]), altering marine carbonate chemistry. OA can influence the metabolism of many marine organisms; however, no consensus has been reached on its effects on algal photosynthetic carbon fixation and primary production. Here, we found that when the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum was grown under different pCO2 levels, it showed different responses to elevated pCO2 levels under growth-limiting (20 µmol photons/m**2/s, LL) compared with growth-saturating (200 µmol photons/m**2/s, HL) light levels. With pCO2 increased up to 950 µatm, growth rates and primary productivity increased, but in the HL cells, these parameters decreased significantly at higher concentrations up to 5000 µatm, while no difference in growth was observed with pCO2 for the LL cells. Elevated CO2 concentrations reduced the size of the intracellular dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) pool by 81% and 60% under the LL and HL levels, respectively, with the corresponding photosynthetic affinity for DIC decreasing by 48% and 55%. Little photoinhibition was observed across all treatments. These results suggest that the decreased growth rates under higher CO2 levels in the HL cells were most likely due to acid stress. Low energy demand of growth and energy saving from the down-regulation of the CO2 concentrating mechanisms (CCM) minimized the effects of acid stress on the growth of the LL cells. These findings imply that OA treatment, except for down-regulating CCM, caused stress on the diatom, reflected in diminished C assimilation and growth rates.

Description: Red tide and green tide are two common algal blooms that frequently occur in many areas in the global oceans. The algae causing red tide and green tide often interact with each other in costal ecosystems. However, little is known on how future CO2-induced ocean acidification combined with temperature variation would affect the interaction of red and green tides. In this study, we cultured the red tide alga Skeletonema costatum and the green tide alga Ulva linza under ambient (400 ppm) and future CO2 (1000 ppm) levels and three temperatures (12, 18, 24 °C) in both monoculture and coculture systems. Coculture did not affect the growth rate of U. linza but significantly decreased it for S. costatum. Elevated CO2 relieved the inhibitory effect of U. linza on the growth of S. costatum, particularly for higher temperatures. At elevated CO2, higher temperature increased the growth rate of S. costatum but reduced it for U. linza. Coculture with U. linza reduced the net photosynthetic rate of S. costatum, which was relieved by elevated CO2. This pattern was also found in Chl a content, indicating that U. linza may inhibit growth of S. costatum via harming pigment synthesis and thus photosynthesis. In monoculture, higher temperature did not affect respiration rate of S. costatum but increased it in U. linza. Coculture did not affect respiration of U. linza but stimulated it for S. costatum, which was a signal of responding to biotic and/abiotic stress. The increased growth of S. costatum at higher temperature and decreased inhibition of U. linza on S. costatum at elevated CO2 suggest that red tides may have more advantages over green tides in future warmer and CO2-enriched oceans.