JPR Advance Access originally published online on May 17, 2005
Journal of Plankton Research 2005 27(6):603-606; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbi027
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SHORT COMMUNICATION |
Utilization of phosphate diester by the marine diatom Chaetoceros ceratosporus
1 Harmful Phytoplankton Section, Harmful Algal Bloom Division, National Research Institute of Fisheries and Environment of Inland Sea, Fisheries Research Agency, Ohno, Saeki, Hiroshima 739-0452, Japan, 2 Laboratory of Environmental Conservation, Graduate School of Kuroshio Science, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan and 3 Laboratory of Aquatic Environmental Science, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan
* Corresponding Author: yharuo{at}affrc.go.jp
Received February 13, 2005; accepted in principle April 1, 2005; accepted for publication April 29, 2005; published online May 17, 2005
Communicating editor: K.J. Flynn
Utilization of phosphate diester (PDE) and phosphodiesterase (PDEase) production by five marine phytoplankton species were examined in the laboratory to evaluate the contribution of PDE to the growth of phytoplankton. Among the five marine phytoplankton species tested, only Chaetoceros ceratosporus was able to use the PDE compound, bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate (bis-NPP), effectively as a sole phosphorus source. In addition, C. ceratosporus simultaneously produced both PDEase and alkaline phosphatase (APase) at almost equal activity levels under the phosphate-deficient condition. These results suggest that PDE compounds presumably play an important role as a phosphorus source for PDEase-producing phytoplankton in coastal environments.