TY - JOUR A1 - Rading, M. Michael A1 - Sandmann, Michael A1 - Steup, Martin A1 - Chiarugi, Davide A1 - Valleriani, Angelo T1 - Weak correlation of starch and volume in synchronized photosynthetic cells JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - In cultures of unicellular algae, features of single cells, such as cellular volume and starch content, are thought to be the result of carefully balanced growth and division processes. Single-cell analyses of synchronized photoautotrophic cultures of the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii reveal, however, that the cellular volume and starch content are only weakly correlated. Likewise, other cell parameters, e.g., the chlorophyll content per cell, are only weakly correlated with cell size. We derive the cell size distributions at the beginning of each synchronization cycle considering growth, timing of cell division and daughter cell release, and the uneven division of cell volume. Furthermore, we investigate the link between cell volume growth and starch accumulation. This work presents evidence that, under the experimental conditions of light-dark synchronized cultures, the weak correlation between both cell features is a result of a cumulative process rather than due to asymmetric partition of biomolecules during cell division. This cumulative process necessarily limits cellular similarities within a synchronized cell population. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.91.012711 SN - 1539-3755 SN - 1550-2376 VL - 91 IS - 1 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cisek, Richard A1 - Tokarz, Danielle A1 - Krouglov, Serguei A1 - Steup, Martin A1 - Emes, Michael J. A1 - Tetlow, Ian J. A1 - Barzda, Virginijus T1 - Second harmonic generation mediated by aligned water in starch granules JF - The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces & biophysical chemistry N2 - The origin of second harmonic generation (SHG) in starch granules was investigated using ab initio quantum mechanical modeling and experimentally examined using polarization-in, polarization-out (PIPO) second harmonic generation microscopy. Ab initio calculations revealed that the largest contribution to the SHG signal from A- and B-type allomorphs of starch originates from the anisotropic organization of hydroxide and hydrogen bonds mediated by aligned water found in the polymers. The hypothesis was experimentally tested by imaging maize starch granules under various hydration and heat treatment conditions that alter the hydrogen bond network. The highest SHG intensity was found in fully hydrated starch granules, and heat treatment diminished the SHG intensity. The PIPO SHG imaging showed that dried starch granules have a much higher nonlinear optical susceptibility component ratio than fully hydrated granules. In contrast, deuterated starch granules showed a smaller susceptibility component ratio demonstrating that SHG is highly sensitive to the organization of the hydroxyl and hydrogen bond network. The polarization SHG imaging results of potato starch granules, representing starch allomorph B, were compared to those of maize starch granules representing allomorph A. The results showed that the amount of aligned water was higher in the maize granules. Nonlinear microscopy of starch granules provides evidence that varying hydration conditions leads to significant changes in the nonlinear susceptibility ratio as well as the SHG intensity, supporting the hypothesis from ab initio calculations that the dominant contribution to SHG is due to the ordered hydroxide and hydrogen bond network. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jp508751s SN - 1520-6106 VL - 118 IS - 51 SP - 14785 EP - 14794 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER -