Abstract
To describe potential intraspecific variation in phosphorus incorporation in two strains of Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Bohlin), Ub3 and Ub7, alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity was evaluated via enzyme-labeled fluorescence assay. Analysis using the probe ELF-97(r) provides individual evaluation, and therefore can determine the nutritional status of inorganic phosphorus in phytoplanktonic cells. Bioassays compared the control treatment to both phosphate-enriched and phosphate-depleted treatments by varying only the phosphate concentration in the media. The P. tricornutum strains exhibited differences in their development when incubated in the phosphate-enriched media. The development of the Ub7 strain differed by exhibiting luxury uptake and utilization of organic phosphorus, and the alkaline phosphatase analysis indicated limitations of this clone under such conditions. The Ub7 strain showed higher AP activity, when compared to Ub3, in the P-enriched condition. P. tricornutum presented increases in AP activity and low variation in Surface/Volume ratio, by increasing biovolume and its maximum linear dimension, as strategies for phosphate incorporation. Our results highlight intraspecific differences in alkaline phosphatase activity, and hence differences in the incorporation of organic phosphorus, as the tested species regulated enzymatic activity under different external phosphate concentrations.
Highlights
Biochemical characteristics of microalgae are dependent on taxonomy as well as on individual physiological characteristics and their response to light and nutrient availability
Alkaline phosphatase facilitates the use of dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) by phytoplankton when dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) is limited in the environment (Lin et al 2011)
Through the use of organic phosphorus, P. tricornutum, in exponential growth phase, is capable of storing a higher internal concentration of phosphorus, this storage does not reflect an increase of cell density in the stationary phase, showing a probable imbalance between the absorption and assimilation of this nutrient
Summary
Biochemical characteristics of microalgae are dependent on taxonomy as well as on individual physiological characteristics and their response to light and nutrient availability. Alkaline phosphatase (AP) is an extracellular enzyme expressed by Domênica Teixeira de Lima, Fernanda Reinhardt Piedras, Flávia Previero Nogueira, Eduardo da Cunha Richard, Bianca Reis Castaldi Tocci, Jose Juan Barrera Alba and Gleyci Aparecida Oliveira Moser a wide variety of phytoplankton species in response to the condition of limited phosphorus. The activity of alkaline phosphatase is related to different phosphorus concentrations (Hernández et al 2002), with it being produced when cells are experiencing phosphate deprivation or it being suppressed in conditions of sufficient phosphate (Kuenzler & Perras 1965; Fitzgerald & Nelson 1966; Grainger 1989; Vance et al 2003)
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