| Summary: | Some phagotrophic organisms can retain chloroplasts of their photosynthetic prey as so-called kleptochloroplasts and maintain their function for shorter or longer periods of time. Here we show for the first time that the dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuta takes control over third-hand chloroplasts obtained from its ciliate prey Mesodinium spp. that originally ingested the cryptophyte chloroplasts. With its kleptochloroplasts, D. acuta can synthesize photosynthetic as well as photoprotective pigments under long-term starvation in the light. Variable chlorophyll fluorescence measurements showed that the kleptochloroplasts were fully functional during one month of prey starvation, while the chlorophyll a-specific inorganic carbon uptake decreased within days of prey starvation under an irradiance of 100 µmol photons m-2 s-1. While D. acuta cells can regulate their pigmentation and function of kleptochloroplasts they apparently lose the ability to maintain high inorganic carbon fixation rates.
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