Development and application of novel methods for diagnosis of phytoplankton physiological status

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Various methods to diagnose phytoplankton physiological status were applied to cultured and natural phytoplankton populations and their validity was examined. In this process, some cultures of oceanic pico- and nanophytoplankton were established. Among them, it was confirmed that measurement of phosphate monoesterase and diesterase activities using fluorogenic substrates in combination with a fluorescent probe ELF-97 were very effective in detecting phosphorus limitation of phytoplankton. By applying this method in the North and South Pacific, the map of phosphorus limitation was drawn throughout the Pacific Ocean. From kinetics studies, it was found that phosphate diesters are recycled much slower than monoesters in the surface water of the tropical Pacific, which is an important result for biogeochemical cycles of phosphorus.