Nitrogen metabolism by heterotrophic bacterial assemblages in Antarctic coastal waters.

Autor: Tupas, Luis, Koike, Isao, Karl, David, Holm-Hansen, Osmund
Zdroj: Polar Biology; Apr1994, Vol. 14 Issue 3, p195-204, 10p
Abstrakt: Field studies to examine the in situ assimilation and production of ammonium (NH) by bacterial assemblages were conducted in the northern Gerlache Strait region of the Antarctic Peninsula. Short term incubations of surface waters containing N-NH as a tracer showed the bacterial population taking up 0.041-0.128 μg-atoms Nld, which was 8-25% of total NH uptake rates. The large bacterial uptake of NH occurred even at low bacterial abundance during a rich phytoplankton bloom. Estimates of bacterial production using H-leucine and -adenine were l.0 μgCl d before the bloom and 16.2 μg Cl d at the bloom peak. After converting bacterial carbon production to an estimate of nitrogen demand, NH was found to supply 35-60% of bacterial nitrogen requirements. Bacterial nitrogen demand was also supported by dissolved organic nitrogen, generally in the form of amino acids. It was estimated, however, that 20-50% of the total amino acids taken up were mineralized to NH. Bacterial production of NH was occurring simultaneously to its uptake and contributed 27-55% of total regenerated NH in surface waters. Using a variety of N-labelled amino acids it was found that the bacteria metabolized each amino acid differently. With their large mineralization of amino acids and their relatively low sinking rates, bacteria appear to be responsible for a large portion of organic matter recycling in the upper surface waters of the coastal Antarctic ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index