Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of long-term sample preservation on flow cytometric analysis of natural populations of pico-and nanophytoplankton

  • Short Contribution
  • Published:
Journal of Oceanography Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The effects of long-term preservation on flow cytometric parameters of natural oceanic populations of pico-and nanophytoplankton have been examined. Populations collected at oligotrophic subtropical and subarctic locations in the North Pacific were fixed with glutaraldehyde and frozen in liquid nitrogen, according to Vaulot et al. (1989). During six months’ storage, chlorophyll red fluorescence declined in all the groups examined, while forward light scatter was enhanced in Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus, and weakened in nanoeucaryotes. Cell loss was not significant except for Synechococcus. Caution is required when analyzing flow cytometric data of samples stored for more than a month.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ackleson, S. G. and R. W. Spinrad (1988): Size and refractive index of individual marine particles: a flow cytometric approach. Appl. Opt., 27, 1270–1277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brussaard, C. P. D., D. Marie, R. Thyrhaug and G. Bratbak (2001): Flow cytometric analysis of phytoplankton viability following viral infection. Aquat. Microb. Ecol., 26, 157–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, L. and D. Vaulot (1993): Photosynthetic picoplankton community structure in the subtropical North Pacific Ocean near Hawaii (station ALOHA). Deep-Sea Res. I, 40, 2043–2060.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavender-Bares, K. K. (1999): Size distributions, population dynamics, and single-cell properties of marine plankton in diverse nutrient environments. Ph.D Thesis of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Choi, J. W. and D. K. Stoecker (1989): Effects of fixation on cell volume of marine planktonic protozoa. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 55, 1761–1765.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cucci, T. L. and M. E. Sieracki (2001): Effects of mismatched refractive indices in aquatic flow cytometry. Cytometry, 44, 173–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lepesteur, M., J. M. Martin and A. Fleury (1993): A comparative study of different preservation methods for phytoplankton cell analysis by flow cytometry. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 93, 55–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marie, D., F. Partensky, D. Vaulot and S. Brussaard (1999): Enumeration of phytoplankton, bacteria, and viruses in marine samples. In Current Protocols in Cytometry Supplement 10, ed. by J. P. Robinson, Z. Darzynkiewicz, P. N. Dean, A. Orfao, P. S. Rabinovitch, C. C. Stewart, H. J. Tanke, L. L. Wheeless and L. G. Dressier, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neale, P. J., J. J. Cullen and C. A. Yentsch (1989): Bio-optical inferences from chlorophyll a fluorescence: What kind of fluorescence is measured in flow cytometry? Limnol. Oceanogr., 34, 1739–1748.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paau, A. S., J. Oro and J. R. Cowles (1978): Application of microfluorometry to the study of algal cells and isolated chloroplasts. J. Exp. Botany, 29, 1011–1020.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pan, L. A., L. H. Zhang, J. Zhang, J. M. Gasol and M. Chao (2005): On-board flow cytometric observation of picoplankton community structure in the East China Sea during the fall of different years. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 52, 243–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Troussellier, M., C. Courties and S. Zettelmaier (1995): Flow cytometric analysis of coastal lagoon bacterioplankton and picophytoplankton: fixation and storage effects. Est. Coast. Shelf Sci., 40, 621–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaulot, D., C. Courties and F. Partensky (1989): A simple method to preserve oceanic phytoplankton for flow cytometric analyses. Cytometry, 10, 629–635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veldhuis, M. J. W. and G. W. Kraay (2000): Application of flow cytometry in marine phytoplankton research: current applications and future perspectives. Sci. Mar., 64, 121–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veldhuis, M. J. W., G. W. Kraay and K. R. Timmermans (2001): Cell death in phytoplankton: correlation between changes in membrane permeability, photosynthetic activity, pigmentation and growth. Eur. J. Phycol., 36, 167–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verity, P. G., C. Y. Robertson, C. R. Tronzo, M. G. Andrews, J. R. Nelson and M. E. Sieracki (1992): Relationships between cell volume and the carbon and nitrogen content of marine photosynthetic nanoplankton. Limnol. Oceanogr., 37, 1434–1446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

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

    Mitsuhide Sato, Shigenobu Takeda & Ken Furuya

Authors
  1. Mitsuhide Sato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shigenobu Takeda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ken Furuya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mitsuhide Sato.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sato, M., Takeda, S. & Furuya, K. Effects of long-term sample preservation on flow cytometric analysis of natural populations of pico-and nanophytoplankton. J Oceanogr 62, 903–908 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-006-0107-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-006-0107-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation