Inorganic nitrogen metabolism inUlva rigida illuminated with blue light |
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Authors: | A Corzo F X Niell |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, E-29071 Málaga, Spain |
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Abstract: | Inorganic nitrogen metabolism in blue light was studied for the green algaUlva rigida C. Agardh collected in the south of Spain (Punta Carnero, Algeciras) in the winter of 1987. NH4
+ has been reported to inhibit NO3
- uptake; however,U. rigida showed a net NO3
- uptake even when the NH4
+ concentration of the external medium was three or four times greater than the concentration of NO3
-. NO3
- uptake rates were similar in both darkness and in blue light of various photon fluence rates (PFR) ranging from 17 to 160 mol m-2 s-1. Since NO3
- uptake is an active mechanism involving the consumption of ATP, respiratory metabolism can provide enough ATP to maintain the energetic requirement of NO3
- transport even in darkness. In contrast, NO3
- reduction inU. rigida was highly dependent on the net photosynthetic rate. After 7 h in blue light, intracellular NO3
- concentrations (NO3
-]
i
) were higher in specimens exposed to intensities below the light compensation point (LCP) than in those incubated at a PFR above the LCP. When PFR is below the light compensation point, NO3
- reduction is low, probably because all the NADH produced by the cells is oxidized in the respiratory chain in order to produce ATP to maintain a steady NO3
- transport rate. The total nitrogen (TN) and carbon (TC) contents decreased from darkness to 33 mol m-2 s-1 in blue light. In this range, catabolic processes prevailed over anabolic ones. In contrast, increases in TN and TC contents were observed above the light compensation point. The C : N ratio increased with light intensity, reaching a stable value of 17 at 78 mol m-2 s-1 in blue light. Intracellular NO3
- concentration and NO3
- reduction appear to be directly controlled by light intensity. This external control of NO3
-]i and the small capacity ofU. rigida to retain incorporated NO3
-, NO2
- and NH4
+ ions may explain its nitrophilic character. |
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