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Ocean acidification, due to increased levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide, is known to affect the physiology and growth of marine phytoplankton, especially in polar regions. However, the effect of acidification or carbonation on cellular metabolism in polar marine phytoplankton still remains an open question. There is some evidence that small chlorophytes may benefit more than other taxa of phytoplankton. To understand further how green polar picoplankton could acclimate to high oceanic CO₂, studies were conducted on an Antarctic Chlorella sp. Chlorella sp. maintained its growth rate (∼0.180 d^-1), photosynthetic quantum yield (Fv/Fm = ∼0.69) and chlorophyll a (0.145 fg cell^-1) and carotenoid (0.06 fg cell^-1) contents under high CO₂, while maximum rates of electron transport decreased and non-photochemical quenching increased under elevated CO₂. GCMS-based metabolomic analysis reveal that this …