B vitamins as regulators of phytoplankton dynamics

Abstract

Without an adequate supply of dissolved vitamins, many species of phytoplankton do not grow. Additions of inorganic nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, and trace metals like iron, are not alone adequate to sustain life—a practical lesson learned quickly by experimental biologists when they try to keep eukaryotic phytoplankton cultures alive in their labs. The reason is that coenzymes such as B vitamins are also required for many metabolic pathways. For example, vitamin B, serves as a cofactor for a large number of enzymatic systems, including the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex required for the metabolism of carbohydrates (glycolysis) and amino acid synthesis [Vandamme, 1989]. Vitamin B 12 is used primarily to assist two enzymes: methionine synthase, which is involved in DNA synthesis, and methylmalonyl CoA mutase, which is required for inorganic carbon assimilation [Lindemans and Abels, 1985].