Plants left for too long in the dark usually turn sickly yellow and die, but scientists were astonished to discover tiny microalgae in the Arctic Ocean down to 50 metres deep can perform photosynthesis in near darkness.
The microalgae were at 88-degrees north and started photosynthesising in late March, only a few days after the long winter polar night came to an end at this latitude. The sun was barely poking up above the horizon and the sea was still covered in snow and ice, barely allowing any light to pass through. Typical light conditions outside on a clear day in Europe are more than 37,000-50,000 times the amount of light required by these Arctic microalgae.
It is now hoped to unlock the secrets of how the algae survive in near darkness. This could boost photosynthesis in crop plants and extend their growing seasons at high latitudes, even in the UK. Another benefit could be improving the growth of plants indoors in greenhouses or vertically stacked growth chambers using less artificial lighting. Perhaps crops could even be grown in limited light onboard spacecraft on long-term missions or space colonies on other worlds.
