Fluorescence-based characterization of phycoerythrin-containing cyanobacterial communities in the Arabian Sea during the Northeast and early Southwest Monsoon (1994–1995)

Scanning fluorescence spectroscopy was used to investigate the spatial and temporal variability in the fluorescence signature of phycoerythrin-containing organisms in the Arabian Sea during the early Northeast and early Southwest Monsoon (1994–1995). Phycoerythrin (PE) emission spectra were relatively invariant among all the samples collected on either cruise; the relatively symmetrical PE emission peaks showed maxima at wavelengths ranging from 563–572 nm. PE excitation spectra always showed either a strong shoulder or a peak at wavelengths absorbed maximally by phycourobilin (PUB) chromophores as well as a peak at wavelengths absorbed maximally by phycoerythrobilin (PEB) chromophores. Thus, the Arabian Sea appears to be different from the Black Sea or Gulf of Maine in that PUB-lacking forms of PE rarely, if ever, dominate the PE signal. Fluorescence excitation signatures differed in the relative excitation of PE emission by wavelengths absorbed by PUB (∼495 nm, ExPUB) and by wavelengths absorbed by PEB (∼550 nm, ExPEB); these were distinguished by having either very low (∼0.6), very high (∼1.8), or intermediate ExPUB:ExPEB ratios. The distribution of samples with different PE fluorescence signatures was investigated extensively during the early Southwest Monsoon, and communities characterized by the low ExPUB:ExPEB ratios were closely associated with cooler (24–27°C), fresher (35.7–36.25 psu) water influenced by coastal upwelling. In general, “ambient” surface water of the Arabian Sea during the early Southwest Monsoon was of intermediate temperature (27–29°C) and salinity (36.15–36.4 psu) and showed intermediate or high values for ExPUB:ExPEB. This suggests that the PE fluorescence signature can be used to follow the fate of upwelling-influenced water masses and the populations they transport.