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AME 77:155-166 (2016)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01793

Effects of temperature, irradiance and pCO2 on the growth and nitrogen utilization of Prorocentrum donghaiense

Zhangxi Hu1,2, Margaret R. Mulholland3,*, Ning Xu4, Shunshan Duan4

1Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao 266071, PR China
2Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266071, PR China
3Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, 4600 Elkhorn Avenue, Norfolk, VA 23507-0276, USA
4Research Center of Hydrobiology, Jinan University, 601 W Huangpu Blvd, Guangzhou 510632, PR China
*‑Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: Environmental factors such as temperature, irradiance, and nitrogen (N) supply affect the growth of Prorocentrum donghaiense, but the interactive effects of these physical factors and the effects of atmospheric CO2 ( pCO2) on growth and N uptake have not been examined. We compared growth kinetics of P. donghaiense grown on 4 different N substrates (nitrate [NO3-], ammonium [NH4+], urea, and glutamic acid [glu]) with respect to temperature, irradiance, and pCO2. Temperature (15 to 30°C) had a positive effect on growth (max. growth rates: 0.17 to 0.65 d-1; optimal temperature: 25 to 30°C); maximum specific growth rates (μmax) declined when cultures were grown at 30°C. P. donghaiense grew well on all 4 N sources, under irradiances ranging from 10 to 180 µmol quanta m-2 s-1. μmax (2.0 ± 0.1 d-1) was observed in cultures growing with NH4+ as the sole N source in the highest irradiance treatment (180 µmol quanta m-2 s-1). These rates were significantly higher than those measured in cultures grown on NO3-, urea, and glu (all ~1.4 d-1). Half-saturation constants (Ks) ranged from 66.5 ± 4.6 to 99.4 ± 6.7 µmol quanta m-2 s-1 for cultures grown with glu or NH4+, respectively, as the sole source of N. Both growth and N uptake rates were higher in cultures grown under elevated pCO2. Our results suggest that P. donghaiense exhibits flexible adaptation for N utilization under broad environmental conditions (temperature, irradiance, pCO2), which may play an important role in the formation and duration of P. donghaiense blooms.


KEY WORDS: Prorocentrum donghaiense · Temperature · Irradiance · CO2 · Nitrogen · Growth rate · Nitrogen uptake


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Cite this article as: Hu Z, Mulholland MR, Xu N, Duan S (2016) Effects of temperature, irradiance and pCO2 on the growth and nitrogen utilization of Prorocentrum donghaiense. Aquat Microb Ecol 77:155-166. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01793

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