Fate and Cycling of Protein, Peptide and Amino Acid N in Cheapeake Bay and Long Island Sound

虽然众所周知，氮的供应和从一种形态到另一种形态的转化是海洋环境中生物生产力的主要决定因素，但我们对氮从有机形态到无机形态的转化过程仍然知之甚少。 为了解决这个问题，来自斯托尼布鲁克的纽约州立大学的科学家们将研究长岛海峡和切萨皮克湾两个近海海洋环境中氨基酸、肽和蛋白质的循环。 具体的目标是确定环境条件下发生水解的肽和蛋白质，水解是否是氨基酸摄取的限速步骤，以及在海水中的胞外酶活性的来源。 蛋白水解活性、细胞表面氧化和氨基酸吸收将在各种环境条件下进行测量，以确定它们如何受到生物量、群落结构和溶解有机氮和无机氮量差异的影响。 切萨皮克湾的实地研究将与位于该湾的霍恩角环境实验室的科学家合作进行。

ABSTRACTOCE-9818530Although it is well known that the supply and transformation of nitrogen from one form to another are major determinants of biological productivity in the marine environment, we still know very little about the processes involved in the transformation of nitrogen from organic to inorganic form. To approach this problem, scientists from the State University of New York at Stony Brook will study the cycling of amino acids, peptides, and proteins in two inshore marine environments, Long Island Sound and Chesapeake Bay. The specific goals are to determine the environmental conditions under which hydrolysis of peptides and proteins occurs, whether hydrolysis is the rate-limiting step in amino acid uptake, and the sources of exoenzymatic activity in seawater. Proteolytic activity, cell-surface oxidation, and amino acid uptake would be measured under various environmental conditions to determine how they are affected by differences in biomass, community structure, and amount of dissolved organic nitrogen and inorganic nitrogen. The Chesapeake Bay field studies would be carried out cooperatively with scientists from the Horn Point Environmental Laboratory which is situated on the Bay.