What this work is about, in plain words
Testing the model against experiment: how well the equations linking pigment content to irradiance describe real cultures of four microalgae species.
In the previous work of the series, the authors proposed a model explaining why cells contain fewer pigments in bright light: pigment synthesis is balanced by their destruction under light. Here the authors tested the model against experimental data for the case in which the culture grows in a steady regime and synthesis and destruction are balanced.
The model equations were rewritten so that pigment content is expressed through the irradiance at the culture surface. They were applied to data for two species of green algae (Chlorella, Platymonas) and two species of cyanobacteria (Spirulina, Synechococcus).
According to the authors, the coefficients of the equations were determined for each species, and the calculation agreed well with experiment.
The work shows that the simple "synthesis versus destruction by light" model is suitable for describing real cultures. Its coefficients can be used to compare species and to forecast the pigment composition of biomass under different light.
Limitations. The model describes only the steady growth regime and was tested on laboratory data for four species. The text of the article is available only as a scan; the explanation was written from the recognized text.