Peridinin-chlorophyll-protein complex: unraveling the unique photosynthetic apparatus of dinoflagellates in response to climatic variation.

Funding: 2011: $80,000
2012: $75,000
2013: $75,000

Project Member(s): Ralph, P.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Australian Research Council (ARC Discovery Projects)

Start year: 2011

Summary: Dinoflagellates sustain the food chain. They live in coral and in ice, and also create toxic algal blooms. This project will dissect the unique photosynthetic machinery of these organisms to learn how they adapt and thrive in extreme environments. This new knowledge will predict how dinoflagellate-based ecosystems will respond to future climate change.

Publications:

Hill, R, Larkum, AWD, Prasil, O, Kramer, DM, Szabo, M, Kumar, V & Ralph, PJ 2012, 'Light-induced dissociation of antenna complexes in the symbionts of scleractinian corals correlates with sensitivity to coral bleaching', CORAL REEFS, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 963-975.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Keywords: microalgae, photosynthesis, dinoflagellate, pigments.

FOR Codes: Invertebrate Biology, Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology), Coastal and Estuarine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity, Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change, Invertebrate biology , Coastal or estuarine biodiversity

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.