We examined the effects of ocean acidification (OA) and eutrophication on the physiology of a red alga, Gracilariopsis chorda, using specimens collected at Wando Island, Korea, in July of 2015. The samples were transported to a laboratory and placed on growth media for treatments involving low or high levels of ammonium (4 μM or 60 μM NH4 +) and low or high pH (7.5 or 8.2). The control treatment used filtered seawater (pH 8.2 and 4 μM NH4 +). All experiments were conducted at 20°C and under a lighting intensity of 80 μmol photons m-2 s-1, with or without an injection of CO2 (pH 7.5). In addition, we calculated rates of respiration under darkness, at a pH of 7.5 and 60 μM NH4 +. Fluctuations in pH as well as the evolution of photosynthetic oxygen and NH4 + uptake rates were monitored for 6 h. The greatest increase in pH levels, from 7.50 to 8.65, occurred in response to 60 μM NH4 +, whereas the largest decrease, from 7.50 to 7.42, was associated with elevated respiration rates. At a pH of 7.5, rates of oxygen evolution were higher (236% saturation) for samples treated with 60 μM NH4 + than for the control (121% saturation). Ammonium uptake was highest at pH 7.5 and 60 μM NH4 +, with a rate of 0.526±0.002 μmol g-1 FW h-1, followed in order by the treatments of pH 8.2/60 μM NH4 +, pH 7.5/4 μM NH4 +, and the control (pH 8.2/4 μM NH4 +). We speculated that the rates of photosynthesis and NH4 + uptake could be enhanced at a higher ammonium concentration and lower pH because CO2 concentrations were increased through greater photosynthetic activity. Therefore, these findings suggest that the physiology of G. chorda populations can be improved by the interaction of optimized CO2 concentrations and an adequate supply of essential nutrients such as ammonium.

The inhibitory effects of mercury ions on the growth of barley seedlings were studied and the distribution of metal elements in the organs of treated plants was investigated by using synchrotron radiation induced X-ray emission (SRIXE). Although the treatment of mercury ions caused growth inhibition, the mercury-specific increase in variable fluorescence and the abolishment of energy-dependent quenching in broken barley chloroplasts as shown by Moon et al. (1992) were not observed in the leaves of growth-inhibited seedlings. Instead the treatment of mercury decreased Fmax and Fo values. However, Fmax/Fo ratio and photochemical and nonphotochemical quenching coefficients were not affected significantly. By SRIXE analysis of 10μM mercury chloride treated seedlings, accumulation of mercury in roots was observed after 1 hour of treatment and similar concentration was sustained for 48 hours. Relative contents of mercury was high in roots and underground nodes where seeds were attached, but was very low in leaves. Iron and zinc were also distributed mainly in the lower parts of the seedlings. However after 72 hours of treatment the contents of these metals in roots decreased and their distribution became more uniform, which may lead to death of the plants. These results suggest that the observed inhibitory effects on barley seedlings upto 48 hours after the treatment is not due to direct damages in the photosynthetic apparatus, but due to its accumulation in roots and the consequent retardation of the growth of barley seedlings. The decrease in Fmax and Fo is probably due to the decrease in chlorophyll and protein contents caused by the retardation of growth. The observed slow expansion of primary leaves could be also explained by the retardation of growth, but the fluorescence induction pattern from the leaves did not show characteristic symptoms of leaves under water stress.