The synthesis, characterization, and anion-binding properties of a series of 2,6-diamidopyridine dipyrromethane hybrid macrocycles is presented. As part of this work, a new method for effecting the oxidation of dipyrromethane-based macrocycles in organic solvents has been developed. The macrocyclic frameworks presented here stand out because of their ease of synthesis and tunable anion-binding properties. Evidence for anion binding was obtained from UV-vis spectroscopic titrations carried out in acetonitrile. The results clearly indicate that by changing the flexibility, cavity size, and directionality of anion-binding moieties in the macrocyclic framework the anion selectivity may be changed dramatically. These results are in accord with density functional theory molecular modeling calculations performed on one member of the series.

We report on common and strain-specific responses to nitrogen (N) starvation recorded in four closely related symbiotic Desmodesmus strains from taxonomically very distant animals (hydroids, a sponge and a polychaete) dwelling in the White Sea. A number of common for the studied strains and free-living microalgae as well as some specific patterns of acclimation to the N starvation were documented. The common responses included a slowdown of cell division, a reduction of photosynthetic apparatus and a vast expansion of storage subcompartments of the cell. Although these responses were qualitatively similar to those known in free-living chlorophytes, in the studied strains they occurred in a strain-specific manner. The specific N-starvation responses comprised formation of chloroplast envelope membrane twirls, thinning of the appressed thylakoid membranes and a loss of the luminal depositions and channeling of the fixed carbon to cell wall polysaccharide layer. Desmodesmus sp. from a hydroid featured a unique, among the studied strains, capability of 'emergency' degradation of Rubisco, apparently to salvage the N contained in this protein. The obtained results are discussed in view of the remarkable physiological plasticity of the symbiotic Desmodesmus spp. and their survival under the harsh conditions of the subarctic sea habitat.

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