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Diel periodicity in cellular chlorophyll content in marine diatoms

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Abstract

Intracellular chlorophyll a content is one of the many measurable parameters which displays a diel rhythm in marine phytoplankton. In asynchronous laboratory cultures of the diatom Skeletonema costatum, cellular chlorophylls a and c exhibit periodicities which closely follow the light-dark cycle and are not the result of cell division. The laboratory cultures also exhibit diel rhythms in cellular flourescence properties and carbon: chlorophyll a ratios. The occurrence of similar patterns of cellular flourescence, carbon: chlorophyll a ratios, and in situ flourescence in diatom-dominated natural phytoplankton communities suggests the possibility of diel rhythms in cellular chlorophyl a content in diatoms in the sea. The data also suggest that the observed periodicity in cellular chlorophyll content is regulated by the diel light cycle and that the co-occurrence of synchronous or phased cell division would only modify the observed periodicity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oceanographic Sciences Division, Department of Energy and Environment, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 11973, Upton, NY, USA

    T. G. Owens, P. G. Falkowski & T. E. Whitledge

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  1. T. G. Owens
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  2. P. G. Falkowski
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  3. T. E. Whitledge
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Communicated by I. Morris, West Boothbay Harbor

This research was performed under the auspices of the United States Department of Energy under Contract No. EY-76-C-02-0016

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Owens, T.G., Falkowski, P.G. & Whitledge, T.E. Diel periodicity in cellular chlorophyll content in marine diatoms. Mar. Biol. 59, 71–77 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00405456

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