Summary
Uptake of silicic acid in the diatoms Navicula pelliculosa and Nitzschia alba was studied, using the natural isotope, 28Si, or a radioisotope, 31Si. The rate of uptake of silicic acid was also determined by using [68Ge]germanic acid as a tracer of silicic acid. At a given silicicacid concentration in the growth medium, the fractions of [68Ge]germanic acid taken up followed closely the fraction of silicic acid taken up in the same time period. When the initial concentration of silicic acid was varied at a constant (trace) concentration of [68Ge]-germanic acid, the uptake of 68Ge followed the fraction of silicic acid removed, and not the absolute amount removed from the medium, at all silicic-acid concentrations. The usefulness of this approach in studying silicic-acid uptake is discussed.
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Azam, F. Silicic-acid uptake in diatoms studied with [68Ge]germanic acid as tracer. Planta 121, 205–212 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00389321
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00389321