Abstract
The present study deals with the distribution of free and attached urea-decomposing bacteria in waters of Lake Suwa, one of the typical eutrophic lakes in Japan.
Urea-decomposing bacteria are proved to be not an exceptional population among the populations of the heterotrophic bacteria studied. The percentage of attached urea-decomposing bacteria versus attached heterotrophic bacteria seems to be higher than that of free urea-decomposing bacteria versus free heterotrophic bacteria. Based on the assumption that most bacterial ureases are inducible ones, it is inferred that their ureases may not be induced under a such degree of urea concentration as is generally encountered in natural waters.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bendschneider, K. & Robinson, R. J. 1952. A new spectrophotometric method for the determination of nitrite in seawater. J. mar. Res. 11: 87–96.
Berman, T. 1974. Urea in the water of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). Limnol. Oceanogr. 19: 977–980.
Horie, S. 1962. Morphometric features and the classification of all the lakes in Japan. Mem. Coll. Sci., Univ. Kyoto. B. 29: 191–262.
McCarthy, J. J. 1970. A urease method for urea in seawater. Limnol. Oceanogr. 15:309–313.
McCarthy, J. J. 1972. The uptake of urea by natural populations of marine phytoplankton. Limnol. Oceanogr. 17: 738–748.
McCarthy, J. J. & Kamykowski, D. 1972. Urea and other nitrogenous nutrients in La Jolla Bay during February, March, and April 1970. Fish. Bull. 70: 1261–1274.
Mitamura, O. & Saijo,. 1975. Decomposition of urea associated with photosynthesis of phytoplankton in coastal waters. Mar. Biol. 30: 67–72.
Newell, B. S. 1967. The determination of ammonia in sea water. J. mar. bio. Ass. U. K. 47: 271–280.
Newell, B. S., Morgan, B. & Cundy, J. 1967. The determination of urea in seawater. J. mar. Res. 25: 201–202.
Remsen, C. C. 1971. The distribution of urea in coastal and oceanic waters. Limnol. Oceanogr. 16: 732–740.
Remsen, C. C., Carpenter E. J. & Schroeder, B. W. 1972. Competition for urea among estuarine microorganisms. Ecology 53: 921–926.
Sakamoto, M., Kurasawa, H. & Okino, T. 1975. Productivity and nutrient metabolism of communities in Lake Suwa. In: S. Mori & G. Yamamoto eds., JIBP Synthesis Vol. 10 Productivity of Tokyo Press. 107–151.
Satoh, Y. & Hanya, T. 1976. Decomposition of urea by the larger particulate fraction and the free bacteria fraction in a pond water. Int. Revue ges. 10750obiol. 61: 799–806.
Satoh, Y. 1980. Production of urea by bacterial decomposition of organic matter including phytoplankton. Int. Revue ges. 10750obiol. 65: 295–301.
Solórzano, L. 1969. Determination of ammonium in natural waters by the phenolhypochlorite method. Limnol. Oceanogr. 14: 799–801.
Strickland, J. D. H. & Parsons, T. R. 1972. A practical handbook of seawater analysis, 2nd ed. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada 161: 1–311.
Taga, N. 1972. Occurrence of urea-decomposing bacteria in the neritic and oceanic waters of the Northwest Pacific Ocean, In: K. Sugawara ed., The Kuroshio II. Saikon Pub. Co., Ltd., Tokyo. 341–356.
Webb, K. L. & Haas, L. W. 1976. The significance of urea for phytoplankton nutrition in the York River, Virginia. In: M. Wiley ed., Estuarine Processes, I. Academic press. 90–102.
ZoBell, C. E. 1946. Marine microbiology. Chronica Botanica Co., Waltham, Mass. 1–240.
ZoBell, C. E. & Felthamk, C. B. 1935. The occurrence and activity of urea-spriting bacteria in the sea. Science 81: 234–236.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Satoh, Y. Distribution of urea-decomposing bacteria in waters of lake suwa. Hydrobiologia 71, 233–237 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00686130
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00686130