Phosphate metabolism during diel vertical migration in the raphidophycean alga, Chattonella antiqua

Abstract

The ecological advantage of diel vertical migration on the nutrition and accumulation of Chattonella antiqua, which is one of the dominant red-tide forming phytoplankton species in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan, was examined using a large axenic culture tank, in which vertical stratification of salinity, temperature and nutrients was maintained, analogous to natural conditions observed when red tides occur. C. antiqua was capable of migrating through very sharp salinity and temperature gradients. At night the species migrated to the deep nutrient-rich water and assimilated nutrients. During the daytime it migrated to the nutrient-depleted surface water and used the accumulated nutrients for photosynthesis. Nitrogen uptake was synchronized with phosphate uptake. 31P-NMR spectroscopy during the migration experiment revealed that C. antiqua has the capability of nocturnal phosphate uptake in the deep nutrient-rich water, but no capability of synthesizing polyphosphate, which was considered to be the intracellular phosphate pool. These findings were compared with those reported for another raphidophycean, Heterosigma akashiwo. Although both species carry out vertical migration and nocturnal nutrient uptake, only H. akashiwo has the capability of making an intracellular polyphosphate pool.