Abstract
Trichodesmium sp., isolated from the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, was cultured in artificial seawater media containing a range of Fe concentration. Fe additions stimulated growth, N2 fixation, cellular chlorophyll a content, light-saturated chlorophyll a-specific gross photosynthetic capacity (Pm chl a) and the dark respiration rate (Rd chl a). Cell yields only doubled for 9 nM Fe relative to zero added Fe, whereas N2 fixation increased 11-fold considerably for 450 nM Fe. The results suggest that N2 fixation of Trichodesmium is more sensitive to Fe limitation than are the cell yields.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bannister TT (1979) Quantitative description of steady state, nutrient–saturated algal growth, including adaptation. Limnol. Oceanogr. 24: 76–96.
Barber RT, Chavez FP (1991) Regulation of primary productivity rate in the equatorial Pacific. Limnol. Oceanogr. 36: 1803–1815.
Berman–Frank I, Cullen JT, Shaked Y, Sherrell RM, Falkowski PG (2001) Iron availability, cellular iron quotas, and nitrogen fixation in Trichodesmium. Limnol. Oceanogr. 46: 1249–1260.
Capone DG (1993) Determination of nitrogenase activity in aquatic samples using the acetylene reduction procedure. In: Kemp PF, Sherr BF, Sherr EB, Cole JJ eds. Handbook of Methods in Aquatic Microbial Ecology. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers, pp. 621–631.
Capone DG, Zehr JP, Paerl HW, Bergman B, Carpenter EJ (1997) Trichodesmium, a globally significant marine cyanobacterium. Science 276: 1221–1229.
Carpenter EJ (1983) Physiology and ecology of marine planktonic Oscillatoria (Trichodesmium). Mar. Biol. Lett. 4: 69–85.
Chereshkin BM, Castelfranco PA (1982) Effects of iron and oxygen on chlorophyll biosynthesis: II. Observations on the biosynthetic pathway in isolated etiochloroplasts. Plant Physiol. 69: 112–116.
Cullen JJ (1991) Hypotheses to explain high nutrient conditions in the open sea. Limonol. Oceangr. 36: 1578–1599.
Falkowski PG, Greene RM, Geider RJ (1992) Physiological limitations on phytoplankton productivity in the ocean. Oceanography 5: 84–91.
Greene RM, Geider RJ, Falkowski PG (1991) Effect of iron limitation on photosynthesis in marine plankton. Limnol. Oceanogr. 36: 1772–1882.
Gruber N, Sarmiento J (1997) Global patterns of marine nitrogen fixation and denitrification. Global Biogeochem. Cy. 11: 235–266.
Jeffrey SW, Humphrey GF (1975) New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophylls a, b, c1 and c2 in higher plants, algae and natural phytoplankton. Biochem. Physiol. Pflanz. 167: 191–194.
Karl DM, Letelier R, Tupas L, Dore J, Christian J, Hebel D (1997) The role of nitrogen fixation in biogeochemical cycling in the subtropical North Pacific Ocean. Nature 388: 533–538.
Kustka A, Capenter EJ, Sannudo–Wilhelmy SA (2002) Iron and marine nitrogen fixation: progress and future directions. Res. Microbiol. 153: 255–262.
Li D–X, Cong W, Cai Zh, Shi D–G, Fan Q–Y (2002) Response of growth and photosynthesis of marine red tide alga Heterosigma akashiwo to iron and iron stress condition. Biotechnol. Lett. 24: 743–747.
Marumo R (1975) An outline of studies on the community of marine pelagic blue–green algae. In: Marumo R, ed. Studies on the Community of Marine Pelagic Blue–Green Algae. Tokyo: Ocean Research Institute, pp. 1–16.
Morel FMM, Rueter JG, Anderson DM, Guillard RRL (1979) Aquil: a chemically defined phytoplankton culture medium for trace metal studies. J. Phycol. 15: 135–141.
Paerl HW, Prufert–Bebout LE, Guo C (1994) Iron stimulation N2 fixation and growth in natural and cultured populations of the planktonic marine cyanobacteria Trichodesmium spp. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60: 1044–1047.
Rueter JG, Ades ER (1987) The role of iron nutrition in photosynthesis and nitrogen assimilation in Scenedesmus quadricauda (Chlorophyceae). J. Phycol. 23: 4452–4457.
Rueter JG, Hutchins DA, Smith RW, Unsworth N (1992) Iron nutrition of Trichodesmium. In: Carpenter EJ, Capone DG, Rueter JG eds. Marine Pelagic Cyanobacteria: Trichodesmium and Other Diazotrophs. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 289–306.
Rueter JG, Ohki K, Fujita Y (1990) The effect of iron nutrition on photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in cultures of Trichodesmium (Cyanophydeae). J. Phycol. 26: 30–35.
Sandmann G, Malkin R (1983) Iron–sulfur centers and activities of the photosynthetic electron transport chain in iron–deficient cultures of the blue–green alga Aphanocapsa. Plant Physiol. 73: 724–728.
Sañudo–Wilhelmy SA, Kustka AB, Gobler CJ, Hutchins DA, Yang M, Lwiza K, Burns J, Capone DG, Raven JA, Carpenter EJ (2001) Phosphorous limitation of nitrogen fixation by Trichodesmium in the central Atlantic Ocean. Nature 411: 66–69.
Spiller S, Terry N (1980) Limiting factors in photosynthesis II. Iron stress diminishes photochemical capacity by reducing the number of photosynthetic units. Plant Physiol. 65: 1159–1169.
Subramaniam A, Carpenter EJ, Karentz D, Falkowski PG (1999) Bio–optical properties of the marine diazotrophic cyanobacteria Trichodesmium spp. I. Absorption and photosynthetic action spectra. Limnol. Oceanogr. 44: 608–617.
Webb EA, Moffett JW, Waterbury JB (2001) Iron stress in openocean cyanobacteria (Synechococcus, Trichodesmium, and Crocosphaera spp.): identification of the IdiA protein. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 5444–5452.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fu, Fx., Bell, P. Growth, N2 fixation and photosynthesis in a cyanobacterium, Trichodesmium sp., under Fe stress. Biotechnology Letters 25, 645–649 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023068232375
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023068232375