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Influence of Illumination on Settlement of Diatom Navicula sp.

  • Microbiology of Aquatic Systems
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Abstract

Diatoms are responsible for biofouling, which causes many problems in various marine industries. This study examined the effects of different light conditions (intensity, incident direction, time of illumination) on the settling behavior of the marine diatom Navicula sp. on glass surfaces. The density of this diatom’s settlement on glass was strongly influenced by light conditions. Moreover, very weak light emitted on the bottom of the culture dish could also rapidly inhibit diatom settlement. These phenomena were explained by spatial interference between chloroplast and holdfast-like structures inside the thecae. The holdfast-like structure is observed to be responsible for diatom locomotion and hence the settlement behavior. It was proposed that the interrelation of illumination and attachment of diatoms allowed them to better adapt to the habitat with higher efficiency of attachment and successive reproduction.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Project under grant nos. 51075228, 50675112, and 50721004.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People’s Republic of China

    Shan Cao, Jiadao Wang & Darong Chen

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  1. Shan Cao
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  2. Jiadao Wang
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  3. Darong Chen
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Correspondence to Jiadao Wang.

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Cao, S., Wang, J. & Chen, D. Influence of Illumination on Settlement of Diatom Navicula sp.. Microb Ecol 62, 931–940 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9892-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9892-x

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