Abstract
In northern Japan, the early production of high-quality specimens of kelps Undaria pinnatifida prior to the outbreak of pinhole disease is needed. To address this need, we tested the effect of nitrate fertilization of gametophytes on the growth and maturation of sporophytes using experimental and control gametophytes derived from sporophytes cultivated in Matsushima Bay, northern Honshu, Japan. From mid-August to October 2008, experimental gametophytes were cultured on a rope indoors at a nitrate concentration of 1 mg/L at the optimal seawater temperature of 20 °C, whereas control gametophytes were cultured without the addition of nitrate in normal seawater at an average temperature of 23.5 °C during this period in the past 30 years. Next, the seedlings were cultivated in Matsushima Bay until March 2009. For the experimental kelps, the total length, stipe length, stipe width, sporophyll length, sporophyll width, and dry weight of the blade, midrib, and sporophyll increased significantly from December to January compared to those of control kelps. Matured sporophylls of the experimental kelps were more than those of the control kelps from early December to late January. Significant higher photosynthesis occurred at seawater temperatures of 10 and 15 °C, as well as higher uptake rates of NO3–N of the experimental kelps in December and January. These results show that nitrate fertilization of the gametophytes makes it possible to harvest the high-priced blade, midrib, and sporophyll in January, which is earlier than the traditional harvest date.
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Acknowledgements
We sincerely thank Professor M. Sato of the Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University for his critical comments on this manuscript. We also thank Mr. M. Ise of the Shiogama Daiichi Fisheries Cooperative Association for providing the seedlings used in the present study and for his kind cooperation with kelp cultivation and collection, the staff of the Miyagi Prefecture Fisheries Technology Institute for using seawater for culture experiment and for providing the long-term water temperature data, and Professor O. Nishimula and Mr. Chiba for helping with the analysis of nutrient concentration.
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Gao, X., Agatsuma, Y. & Taniguchi, K. Effect of nitrate fertilization of gametophytes of the kelp Undaria pinnatifida on growth and maturation of the sporophytes cultivated in Matsushima Bay, northern Honshu, Japan. Aquacult Int 21, 53–64 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-012-9533-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-012-9533-5