Characterization of a humic acid extracted from marine sediment and its influence on the growth of marine diatoms

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
• Main Authors: Martin, Marcela Vanessa, Gebühr, Christina, Martire, Daniel Osvaldo, Wilshire, Karen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press
• Subjects: Helgoland Roads; Humic Substances; Marine Diatoms; Growth Experiments; North Sea; Paralia Sulcata; Argentina; Helgoland; Reimer; Alfred Wegener Institute
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11336/32213

Due to the input of humic substances from freshwater run-off into the marine habitat, the influences of such substances on marine organisms should not be neglected. We here investigate the effect of a humic acid (HA) extract from the North Sea,characterized by spectroscopic techniques and carboxylic and phenolic group content, on the growth of different algae. Two benthic pennate diatoms isolated from the Baltic Sea, Navicula ramosissima (C. Agardh) Cleve, 1895 and Entomoneis paludosa (W. Smith) Reimer, 1975, as well as two tychopelagic centric diatoms isolated from the North Sea, Melosira nummuloides C. Agardh, 1824 and Paralia sulcata (Ehrenberg) Cleve, 1873, were employed. The concentrations of pigments (fucoxanthin, diadinoxanthin, chlorophyll-a and b-carotene) and nutrients were also measured. Adding low concentrations of naturally humic substances (5.5 mg of C l21) to the algae cultures resulted in enhanced growth rates compared to the control experiments, possibly due to the increase in the bioavailability of trace metals or other nutrients. Fil: Martin, Marcela Vanessa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentina Fil: Gebühr, Christina. Goethe Universitat Frankfurt; Alemania Fil: Martire, Daniel Osvaldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentina Fil: Wilshire, Karen. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research; Alemania