Shifts in the protist community associated with an anticyclonic gyre in the Alboran Sea (Mediterranean Sea).

The diversity of protists was researched in the Alboran Sea (SW Mediterranean Sea) by means of high-throughput sequencing technologies based on the amplification of the V9 region of 18S rRNA. Samples were collected at different depths in seven stations following an environmental gradient from a coastal upwelling zone to the core of an oligotrophic anticyclonic gyre (AG). Sampling was performed during summer, when the water column was stratified. The superphyla Alveolata, Stramenopila and Rhizaria accounted for 84% of the total operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The most diverse groups were Dinophyceae (21% of OTUs), Marine Alveolates-II (MALV-II; 20%), Ciliophora (9%) and MALV-I (6%). In terms of read abundance, the predominant groups were Dinophyceae (29%), Bacillariophyta (14%), MALV-II (11%) and Ciliophora (11%). Samples were clustered into three groups according to the sampling depth and position. The shallow community in coastal stations presented distinguishable patterns of diatoms and ciliates compared with AG stations. These results indicate that there was a strong horizontal coupling between phytoplankton and ciliate communities. Abundance of Radiolaria and Syndiniales increased with depth. Our analyses demonstrate that the stratification disruption produced by the AG caused shifts in the trophic ecology of the plankton assemblages inducing a transition from bottom-up to top-down control.

Growth in elevated CO2 enhances temperature response of photosynthesis in wheat.

The temperature dependence of C(3) photosynthesis may be altered by the growth environment. The effects of long-term growth in elevated CO(2) on photosynthesis temperature response have been investigated in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in controlled chambers with 370 or 700 mumol mol(-1) CO(2) from sowing through to anthesis. Gas exchange was measured in flag leaves at ear emergence, and the parameters of a biochemical photosynthesis model were determined along with their temperature responses. Elevated CO(2) slightly decreased the CO(2) compensation point and increased the rate of respiration in the light and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) V(cmax), although the latter effect was reversed at 15 degrees C. With elevated CO(2), J(max) decreased in the 15-25 degrees C temperature range and increased at 30 and 35 degrees C. The temperature response (activation energy) of V(cmax) and J(max) increased with growth in elevated CO(2). CO(2) enrichment decreased the ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP)-limited photosynthesis rates at lower temperatures and increased Rubisco- and RuBP-limited rates at higher temperatures. The results show that the photosynthesis temperature response is enhanced by growth in elevated CO(2). We conclude that if temperature acclimation and factors such as nutrients or water availability do not modify or negate this enhancement, the effects of future increases in air CO(2) on photosynthetic electron transport and Rubisco kinetics may improve the photosynthetic response of wheat to global warming.

Future CO2 concentrations, though not warmer temperatures, enhance wheat photosynthesis temperature responses.

The temperature dependence of C3 photosynthesis is known to vary according to the growth environment. Atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature are predicted to increase with climate change. To test whether long-term growth in elevated CO2 and temperature modifies photosynthesis temperature response, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was grown in ambient CO2 (370 micromol mol(-1)) and elevated CO2 (700 micromol mol(-1)) combined with ambient temperatures and 4 degrees C warmer ones, using temperature gradient chambers in the field. Flag leaf photosynthesis was measured at temperatures ranging from 20 to 35 degrees C and varying CO2 concentrations between ear emergence and anthesis. The maximum rate of carboxylation was determined in vitro in the first year of the experiment and from the photosynthesis-intercellular CO2 response in the second year. With measurement CO2 concentrations of 330 micromol mol(-1) or lower, growth temperature had no effect on flag leaf photosynthesis in plants grown in ambient CO2, while it increased photosynthesis in elevated growth CO2. However, warmer growth temperatures did not modify the response of photosynthesis to measurement temperatures from 20 to 35 degrees C. A central finding of this study was that the increase with temperature in photosynthesis and the photosynthesis temperature optimum were significantly higher in plants grown in elevated rather than ambient CO2. In association with this, growth in elevated CO2 increased the temperature response (activation energy) of the maximum rate of carboxylation. The results provide field evidence that growth under CO2 enrichment enhances the response of Rubisco activity to temperature in wheat.