Abstract
A modification of the 14C technique was used to study variations in the distribution of 14C in cell extracts of phytoplankton living under natural conditions. In the upper photic zone (0.5 m), cell volume declined steadily from April to June, but total 14C uptake increased gradually with increasingly large fractions of 14C incorporated into an ethanol‐soluble cell extract (probably low molecular weight carbohydrates and organic acids) rather than into an insoluble fraction (probably protein and polysaccharides). In the middle photic zone (3 m), cell volume also declined and total 14C uptake increased gradually, but increasingly large fractions of 14C were in the insoluble fraction. Cell volume and total 14C uptake in the lower photic zone (6 m) increased proportionally. Increasingly large fractions of 14C were in the insoluble fraction from March to June. Variations in 14C distribution appear to be related to active cell turnover during a Synedra sp. bloom on one occasion and to chromatic adaptation by the dominant phytoplankter Oscillatoria rubescens at another time.
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