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Interrelated influence of iron, light and cell size on marine phytoplankton growth

Nature volume 390, pages 389–392 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

The sub-optimal growth of phytoplankton and the resulting persistence of unutilized plant nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) in the surface waters of certain ocean regions has been a long-standing puzzle1,2. Of these regions, the Southern Ocean seems to play the greatest role in the global carbon cycle3,4, but controversy exists as to the dominant controls on net algal production. Limitation by iron deficiency4,5, light availability1,6,7 and grazing by zooplankton2 have been proposed. Here we present the results from culture experiments showing that the amount of cellular iron needed to support growth is higher under lower light intensities, owing to a greater requirement for photosynthetic iron-based redox proteins by low-light acclimatized algae. Moreover, algal iron uptake varies with cell surface area, such that the growth of small cells is favoured under iron limitation, as predicted theoretically8. Phytoplankton growth can therefore be simultaneously limited by the availability of both iron and light. Such a co-limitation may be experienced by phytoplankton in iron-poor regions in which the surface mixed layer extends below the euphotic zone—as often occurs in the Southern Ocean6,7—or near the bottom of the euphotic zone in more stratified waters. By favouring the growth of smaller cells, iron/light co-limitation should increase grazing by microzooplankton, and thus minimize the loss of fixed carbon and nitrogen from surface waters in settling particles9,10.

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Figure 1: Relationships among specific growth rate, intracellular Fe : C (measured with radiotracers), Fe uptake rate (normalized to cell volume and equivalent spherical surface area), and [Fe′] for coastal eukaryotes of varying mean diameters grown at 500 µE m−2 s−1 (here µE indicates microeinstein).
Figure 2: Specific growth rate (a) and Chl a : C (b) as functions of intracellular Fe : C at high (500 µE m−2 s−1; open symbols) and low light (50, closed symbols).
Figure 3: Plot of μ/μmax against [Fe′] at growth-saturating and growth-limiting light intensities.
Figure 4

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Acknowledgements

This paper was supported by grants from the Office of Naval Research.

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  1. National Marine Fisheries Service, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, 28516, North Carolina, USA

    William G. Sunda & Susan A. Huntsman

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  1. William G. Sunda
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Correspondence to William G. Sunda.

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Sunda, W., Huntsman, S. Interrelated influence of iron, light and cell size on marine phytoplankton growth. Nature 390, 389–392 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/37093

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