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Growth stimulation and inhibition of natural phytoplankton communities by model organic ligands in the western subarctic Pacific

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Abstract

The influence of organic ligands on natural phytoplankton growth was investigated in high-nitrate low-chlorophyll (HNLC) waters and during a phytoplankton bloom induced by a mesoscale iron enrichment experiment (SEEDS II) in the western subarctic Pacific. The growth responses of the phytoplankton in the treatments with iron complexed with model ligand were compared with those with inorganic iron or a control. Desferrioxamine B and protoporphyrin IX were used as models for hydroxamate-type siderophore and tetrapyrrole-type cell breakdown ligand, respectively. In the HNLC water, iron associated with protoporphyrin IX especially stimulated smaller phytoplankton (<10 μm) growth, 1.5-fold more than did inorganic iron. Surprisingly, only the addition of protoporphyrin IX stimulated small phytoplankton growth, suggesting that these cell breakdown ligands might be more bioavailable for them. The protoporphyrin IX’s stimulatory effect on small phytoplankton was not observed during bloom decline phase. The growth of phytoplankton was inhibited in the treatment with desferrioxamine B-complexed iron, suggesting its low bioavailability for the natural phytoplankton community. Its inhibitory effects were particularly pronounced in pico-eukaryotic phytoplankton. During the iron-induced bloom, the phytoplankton’s iron-stress response gradually increased with the desferrioxamine B concentration, suggesting that the competition for iron complexation between natural ligands and desferrioxamine B affected phytoplankton growth. However, the pico-eukaryotes did seem better able to utilize the desferrioxamine B-complexed iron during the bloom-developing phase. These results indicate that the iron bioavailability for phytoplankton differs between bloom-developing and bloom-decline phases.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Captains and crews of the R.V. “Hakuho-maru” KH-03-2 and KH-04-3 cruises for their assistance on board. We express our gratitude to Drs. A. Tsuda, H. Obata, M.L. Wells, C.S. Wong, Mr. W.K. Johnson, and the other scientists who took part in the SEEDS II experiment. This research was supported by funds from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture research (16201003, 18067006 and 20310006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Yoshiko Kondo, Shigenobu Takeda, Mitsuhide Sato & Ken Furuya

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA

    Yoshiko Kondo

  3. Faculty of Fisheries, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan

    Shigenobu Takeda

  4. Pan-Okhotsk Research Center, Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0819, Japan

    Jun Nishioka

  5. Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Shiogama, Miyagi, 985-0001, Japan

    Hiroaki Saito

  6. Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan

    Koji Suzuki

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  1. Yoshiko Kondo
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Correspondence to Yoshiko Kondo.

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Kondo, Y., Takeda, S., Nishioka, J. et al. Growth stimulation and inhibition of natural phytoplankton communities by model organic ligands in the western subarctic Pacific. J Oceanogr 69, 97–115 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-012-0160-6

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