EFFECTS OF PHOTOCYCLES AND PERIODIC AMMONIUM SUPPLY ON THREE MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON SPECIES. II. AMMONIUM UPTAKE AND ASSIMILATION1

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The relative influence of the photoperiod and of periodic ammonium pulses in entraining the cell division cycle in nitrogen‐limited cyclostat cultures differs dramatically in Hymenomonas carterae Braarud and Fagerl, Amphidinium carteri Hulburt and Thalassiosira weissflogii Grun. We examined how each species processes an NH4+ pulse at various times during the cell cycle and the L/D cycle. Rates of NH4+ uptake and changes in cellular concentrations of NH4+, free amino acids, and protein were examined after the addition of an NH4+ pulse. Depletion of NH4+ from the medium occurred earlier when the pulse was given at the beginning of the light period than at the beginning of the dark period in H. carterae and A. carteri. Depletion took longer in the T. weissflogii cultures and the kinetics were similar during both stages of the photocycle in this species. Similarly, the temporal phasing and maximum pool sizes varied with timing of the NH4+ pulse in H. carterae and A. carteri but complete assimilation was relatively rapid. More persistent pools of NH4+ and free amino acids accumulated in T. weissflogii, and the patterns of assimilation varied little as a function of the timing of the pulse with respect to the photocycle. Although nitrogen metabolism occurred rapidly in nitrogen‐limited H. carterae and A. carteri, the entrainment of the cell division cycle by the photoperiod resulted in a large degree of uncoupling between completion of nitrogen assimilation and cell division. It is hypothesized that the strong entrainment of the cell division cycle of T. weissflogii by NH4+ pulses results from a relatively slow rate of nitrogen metabolism.

This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit: