COUPLED MOLECULAR PHYSIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF SOUTHERN OCEAN DIATOMS IN RESPONSE TO SHIFTING IRON AND LIGHT AVAILABILITY ...

• Main Author: Moreno, Carly Maria
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries 2020
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Southern Ocean; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17615/hver-q873; https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/dissertations/1831ct393

Diatoms are an ecologically important group of Southern Ocean phytoplankton forming the base of polar marine food webs and contribute significantly to carbon and silica export. Changes in their physiological status can alter their growth, productivity and elemental stoichiometry, consequently affecting food web dynamics and the efficiency of the biological carbon pump. Iron and light availability are predicted to be two abiotic factors that control diatom physiology and productivity. Therefore, a better understanding of the ecological importance of iron and light limitation on Southern Ocean diatom physiology is needed to decipher the role of diatoms in polar ocean ecology and biogeochemistry. By coupling culturing methods and ‘omic techniques, my dissertation sheds light on the physiology and metabolism of ecologically relevant diatom isolates and natural diatom assemblages from the Western Antarctic Peninsula. The focus of the first two chapters of my dissertation are 1) to investigate the molecular ...