Pigment variability and photosynthetic parameters of natural and cultured Raphidophyceans

The ecology and photo-acclimation mechanisms of microalgae belonging to the class Raphidophyceae were studied, both in nature and in culture. Particularly the work was focused on: Fibrocapsa japonica atypical occurrence offshore, in a cyclonic eddy in the eastern Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean Sea), and Heterosigma akashiwo photosynthetic parameter (alpha, beta and Pmax) co-variation during experiments under sinusoidal and continuous light regime, and nitrogen starvation, which were conducted at the Laboratoire d’Oceanographie, Observatoire Oceanologique, Villefranche-sur-mer, Unviersitè Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, France.