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JPR Advance Access published online on September 26, 2005

Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbi070
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received July 24, 2005
Accepted September 13, 2005

Article

Bioavailable Iron in Oligotrophic Lake Superior Assessed Using Biological Reporters

R. Michael L. Mckay 1*, David Porta 2, George S. Bullerjahn 1, Mamoon M.D. Al-rshaidat 1, Jeffrey A. Klimowicz 1, Robert W. Sterner 3, Tanya M. Smutka 3, Erik T. Brown 4, and Robert M. Sherrell 5

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403
2 Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403; Present address: Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4
3 Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55328
4 Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812
5 Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences and Department of Geological Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
R. Michael L. Mckay, E-mail: rmmckay{at}bgnet.bgsu.edu


   Abstract

Iron bioavailability in Lake Superior was assessed during field surveys conducted in 2001-02. Dissolved iron (Fed) ranged between 1-4 nM at offshore stations and > 10 nM at most nearshore sites. Iron availability was assessed using a luminescent Synechococcus bioreporter comprising a luciferase reporter controlled by an iron-responsive promoter isiAB. Bioreporter luminescence was negatively correlated to Fed measured in the samples. Distance from shore was a better predictor of iron bioavailability than was season. Water collected from most offshore stations sampled during spring and summer elicited higher bioreporter luminescence than did nearshore sites. Iron availability did not vary with depth during summer despite the presence of elevated levels of Fed in the hypolimnion at most stations. Ultrafiltration (0.02 µm) of Fed at two offshore sites demonstrated Fed to be present mainly in a colloidal phase, yet the bioreporter responded solely to iron contained in the soluble phase. During spring, a parallel immunochemical assay of diatoms resulted in the detection of ferredoxin but not flavodoxin at five stations indicating the presence of an iron sufficient assemblage of diatoms at these sites. Whereas neither bioreporter or immunochemical approaches conducted during spring supported physiological iron deficiency among Lake Superior phytoplankton, the results did point to differences in the availability of iron to prokaryotes and eukaryotes.


Communicating Editor: KJ Flynn
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