Linking the influence of infochemicals and food quality to plankton dynamics

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Understanding the role of infochemicals in the plankton is a key for an in-depth insight into the functioning of this complex ecosystem. Therefore, innovative approaches are needed that allow studying chemical and biochemical fluctuations in phytoplankton and the surrounding seawater. Within this project we propose to develop and apply new approaches for the simultaneous monitoring of infochemicals and factors determining food quality of phytoplankton community samples. Therefore we intend to further optimize methods that allow metabolic profiling of single phytoplankton species under different culture conditions, of simple plankton assemblages, and of natural plankton samples. Thereby we want to elucidate allelopathic interactions and the influence of signals from feeding herbivores. This will allow us to monitor the in situ chemical environment in the plankton. This information will be directly linked to ecological parameters, including algal or herbivore fitness and reproduction. Using this approach we aim to get insight into the effect of fluctuating chemical parameters in the field without the bias on certain pre-selected compound classes.