Nodularia spp. (Cyanobacteria) incorporate leucine but not thymidine: importance for bacterial-production measurements

Abstract

AME Aquatic Microbial Ecology Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials AME 28:99-104 (2002) - doi:10.3354/ame028099 Nodularia spp. (Cyanobacteria) incorporate leucine but not thymidine: importance for bacterial-production measurements Susanna Hietanen1,*, Jaana Maritta Lehtimäki2, Liisa Tuominen1, Kaarina Sivonen2, Jorma Kuparinen3 1Finnish Institute of Marine Research, PO Box 33, 00931 Helsinki, Finland 2Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, Division of Microbiology, PO Box 56, Biocentre Viikki, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland 3Department of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Hydrobiology, PO Box 17, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland *E-mail: susanna.hietanen@fimr.fi ABSTRACT: Six strains of Nodularia spp., both toxic and non-toxic, were tested for their ability to incorporate leucine and thymidine. All axenic cyanobacterial strains studied showed high leucine incorporation (1.4 to 12 pmol μgchl a-1 h-1 at a concentration of 212 nM leucine), whereas thymidine was either taken up at a very low rate or not at all (0 to 0.2 pmol μgchl a-1 h-1 at a concentration of 121 nM thymidine). We therefore recommend using the thymidine incorporation method instead of that of leucine for measuring heterotrophic bacterial production during cyanobacterial blooms. KEY WORDS: Leucine · Thymidine · Bacterial production · Cyanobacteria Full text in pdf format PreviousExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AME Vol. 28, No. 1. Online publication date: May 16, 2002 Print ISSN: 0948-3055; Online ISSN: 1616-1564 Copyright © 2002 Inter-Research.