Abstract
DESPITE the controversy on the importance of iron in limiting phytoplankton growth and affecting air–sea exchange of CO2 in the ocean1–4, there is very little information on cellular iron requirements for growth. The few data available5,6 come from species isolated from coastal sea water where dissolved Fe levels are 10–1,000 times higher than those (≤0.1 nM) in the open ocean1,7. Species from oceanic waters require much lower external Fe concentrations for growth than do comparable coastal species8. Here we report that an oceanic diatom was able to grow at a near maximum specific rate of about 1.0 per day at a cellular Fe:C ratio of 2 μmol: mol, about 25% of the amount needed for the same rate in a related estuarine species, and 2–20% of values previously used to estimate algal Fe requirements in sea water1,2. These results have important implications concerning iron limitation of primary productivity in the ocean and cell biology of iron in oceanic algae.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Martin, J. H. & Gordon, R. M. Deep Sea Res. 35, 177–196 (1988).
Martin, J. H., Gordon, R. M., Fitzwater, S. & Broenkow, W. W. Deep Sea Res. 36, 649–680 (1989).
Martin, J. H., Fitzwater, S. E. & Gordon, R. M. Global Biogeochem. Cycles (in the press).
Coale, K. H. thesis, Univ. California, (1988).
Hudson, R. J. M. & Morel, F. M. M. Limnol. Oceanogr. 35, 1002–1020 (1990).
Harrison, G. I. & Morel, F. M. M. Limnol. Oceanogr. 31, 989–997 (1986).
Gordon, R. M., Martin, J. H. & Knauer, J. Nature 299, 611–612 (1982).
Brand, L. E., Sunda, W. G. & Guillard, R. R. L. Limnol. Oceanogr. 28, 1182–1198 (1983).
Guillard, R. R. L. & Ryther, J. H. Canad. J. Microbiol. 8, 437–445 (1962).
Sunda, W. G. & Huntsman, S. A. Limnol. Oceanogr. 28, 924–934 (1983).
Sunda, W. G. & Huntsman, S. A. J. Phycol. 22, 259–270 (1986).
Hudson, R. J. M. & Morel, F. M. M. Limnol. Oceanogr. 34, 1113–1120 (1989).
Carpenter, E. J. & Guillard, R. R. L. Ecology 52, 183–185 (1971).
Raven, J. A. New Phytol. 20, 279–287 (1988).
Anderson, M. A. & Morel, F. M. M. Limnol. Oceanogr. 27, 789–813 (1982).
Redfield, A. C., Ketchum, B. H. & Richards, F. A. in The Sea (ed. Hill, M. N.) 26–77 (Interscience, New York, 1963).
Banse, K. Limnol. Oceanogr. 35, 772–775 (1990).
Bruland, K. W., Franks, R. P., Knauer, G. A. & Martin, J. H. Analytica chim. Acta 105, 233–245 (1979).
Landing, W. M. & Bruland, K. H. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 51, 29–43 (1987).
Sunda, W. G. Mar. Chem. 14, 365–378 (1984).
Morel, F. M. M. J. Phycol. 23, 137–150 (1986).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sunda, W., Swift, D. & Huntsman, S. Low iron requirement for growth in oceanic phytoplankton. Nature 351, 55–57 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/351055a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/351055a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Monod parameterization and competition at low iron among freshwater cyanobacteria and chlorophytes
Hydrobiologia (2023)
-
Bioavailable iron titrations reveal oceanic Synechococcus ecotypes optimized for different iron availabilities
ISME Communications (2022)
-
Insights into the bioavailability of oceanic dissolved Fe from phytoplankton uptake kinetics
The ISME Journal (2020)
-
Effect of biodegradable chelating ligands on Fe uptake in and growth of marine microalgae
Journal of Applied Phycology (2018)
-
Iodine balance, growth and biochemical composition of three marine microalgae cultured under various inorganic iodine concentrations
Marine Biology (2016)