LIGHT AND NUTRIENT DEPENDENCE OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS BY ALGAE 1

The validity of a recent nutrient‐based modal of algal photosynthesis was tested using phosphorus‐limited semi‐continuous cultures of the green alga, Scenedesmus quadricauda. The data suggest that light‐saturate photosynthesis (P opt, mg C · mg chla−1· h−1) is a hyperbolic function of cellular phosphorus quota (Qp), whether Qp is expressed per unit cellular chlorophyll a, per unit dry weight, or per cell number. Furthermore, the light availability during growth appears to have little effect on these hyperbolic relationships over the range of light intensities studied here (65–110 μE · m−2· s−1). These data, and data presented from other published studies, suggest that the cell quota model is a valid empirical description of the photosynthetic behavior of nutrient‐limited cells.

[1]  M. R. Droop,et al.  The nutrient status of algal cells in continuous culture , 1974, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[2]  E. Laws,et al.  Nutrient‐ and light‐limited growth of Thalassiosira fluviatilis in continuous culture, with implications for phytoplankton growth in the ocean , 1980 .

[3]  Trevor Platt,et al.  Mathematical formulation of the relationship between photosynthesis and light for phytoplankton , 1976 .

[4]  J. Giddings.  Chemical composition and productivity of Scenedesmus abundans in nitrogen limited chemostat cultures1 , 1977 .

[5]  W. Senft.  Dependence of light-saturated rates of algal photosynthesis on intracellular concentrations of phosphorus , 1978 .

[6]  Dale A. Kiefer,et al.  Reflectance spectroscopy of marine phytoplankton. Part 1. Optical properties as related to age and growth rate1 , 1979 .

[7]  T. T. Bannister.  Quantitative description of steady state, nutrient‐saturated algal growth, including adaptation , 1979 .

[8]  M. Schmitt,et al.  Dependence of rates of apparent photosynthesis on tissue phosphorus concentrations in Myriophyllum spicatum L. , 1981 .

[9]  H. Glover.  Assimilation numbers in cultures of marine phytoplankton , 1980 .

[10]  R. Eppley,et al.  NITROGEN ASSIMILATION OF AN OCEANIC DIATOM IN NITROGEN‐LIMITED CONTINUOUS CULTURE 1 , 1974 .

[11]  Val H. Smith,et al.  Nutrient dependence of primary productivity in lakes1 , 1979 .

[12]  G. Rhee.  Effects of N:P atomic ratios and nitrate limitation on algal growth, cell composition, and nitrate uptake 1 , 1978 .

[13]  T. T. Bannister.  A general theory of steady state phytoplankton growth in a nutrient saturated mixed layer , 1974 .

[14]  M. Droop.  The nutrient status of algal cells in batch culture , 1975, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[15]  J. Myers.  Culture conditions and the development of the photosynthetic mechanism; influence of light intensity on photosynthetic characteristics of Chlorella. , 1946, The Journal of general physiology.

[16]  D. Lean,et al.  An evaluation of errors in the 14C method of primary production measurement , 1979 .

[17]  E. Laws,et al.  Modeling Phytoplankton Carbon Metabolism , 1980 .

[18]  R. Guillard,et al.  Culture of Phytoplankton for Feeding Marine Invertebrates , 1975 .

[19]  T. T. Bannister.  Production equations in terms of chlorophyll concentration, quantum yield, and upper limit to production , 1974 .

[20]  David Tilman,et al.  PHOSPHATE AND SILICATE GROWTH AND UPTAKE KINETICS OF THE DIATOMS ASTERIONELLA FORMOSA AND CYCLOTELLA MENEGHINIANA IN BATCH AND SEMICONTINUOUS CULTURE 1 , 1976 .

[21]  D. Kiefer,et al.  Chlorophyll a fluorescence in marine centric diatoms: Responses of chloroplasts to light and nutrient stress , 1973 .

[22]  J. Talling.  PHOTOSYNTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME FRESHWATER PLANKTON DIATOMS IN RELATION TO UNDERWATER RADIATION , 1957 .

[23]  J. Cullen,et al.  Continuous measurement of the DCMU-induced fluorescence response of natural phytoplankton populations , 1979 .

[24]  I. Gotham,et al.  The effect of environmental factors on phytoplankton growth: Light and the interactions of light with nitrate limitation1 , 1981 .

[25]  F. Healey.  SHORT‐TERM RESPONSES OF NUTRIENT‐DEFICIENT ALGAE TO NUTRIENT ADDITION 1 , 1979 .

[26]  R. P. Canale,et al.  Ecological Studies and Mathematical Modeling of Cladophora in Lake Huron: 3. The Dependence of Growth Rates on Internal Phosphorus Pool Size , 1982 .

[27]  G. Rhee,et al.  The effect of environmental factors on phytoplankton growth: Temperature and the interactions of temperature with nutrient limitation1 , 1981 .

[28]  G. Öquist,et al.  A Method for Studying Photosynthetic Capacities of Unicellular Algae Based on in vivo Chlorophyll Fluorescence , 1977 .

[29]  J. Strickland,et al.  The Cell Division Rates of Some Marine Phytoplankters as a Function of Light and Temperature , 1964 .

[30]  W. Thomas,et al.  ON NITROGEN DEFICIENCY IN TROPICAL PACIFIC OCEANIC PHYTOPLANKTON. II. PHOTOSYNTHETIC AND CELLULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF A CHEMOSTAT‐GROWN DIATOM1 , 1972 .

[31]  P. Hannan,et al.  In vivo fluorescence determinations of phytoplankton chlorophyll a , 1977 .

[32]  H. Glover.  EFFECTS OF IRON DEFICIENCY ON ISOCHRYSIS GALBANA (CHRYSOPHYCEAE) AND PHAEODACTYLUM TRICORNUTUM (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) 1 , 1977 .

[33]  E. Laws,et al.  STUDIES OF CARBON AND NITROGEN METABOLISM BY THREE MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON SPECIES IN NITRATE‐LIMITED CONTINUOUS CULTURE1, 2 , 1978 .