Survival and recovery of Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) from prolonged darkness and freezing
The colony-forming haptophyte Phaeocystis antarctica is an important primary producer in the Ross Sea, and must survive long periods of darkness and freezing temperature in this extreme environment. We conducted experiments on the responses of P. antarctica-dominated phytoplankton assemblages to pro...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
W&M ScholarWorks
2009
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsarticles/970 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/1970/viewcontent/81.full.pdf |
id |
ftwilliammarycol:oai:scholarworks.wm.edu:vimsarticles-1970 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftwilliammarycol:oai:scholarworks.wm.edu:vimsarticles-1970 2023-06-11T04:04:52+02:00 Survival and recovery of Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) from prolonged darkness and freezing Tang, KW Smith, Walker O., Jr. Shields, AR Elliott, DT 2009-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsarticles/970 doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0598 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/1970/viewcontent/81.full.pdf unknown W&M ScholarWorks https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsarticles/970 doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0598 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/1970/viewcontent/81.full.pdf VIMS Articles Ice Microbial Communities Phytoplankton Assemblage Composition Southern Ross Sea Primary Productivity Weddell-Sea Pack Ice Biomass Diatom Nutrients Algae Biological Sciences Peer-Reviewed Articles Aquaculture and Fisheries text 2009 ftwilliammarycol https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0598 2023-05-04T17:57:23Z The colony-forming haptophyte Phaeocystis antarctica is an important primary producer in the Ross Sea, and must survive long periods of darkness and freezing temperature in this extreme environment. We conducted experiments on the responses of P. antarctica-dominated phytoplankton assemblages to prolonged periods of darkness and freezing. Chlorophyll and photosynthetic capacity of the alga declined nonlinearly and independently of each other in the dark, and darkness alone would potentially reduce photosynthetic capacity by only 60 per cent over 150 days (approximately the length of the Antarctic winter in the southern Ross Sea). The estimated reduction of colonial mucous carbon is higher than that of colonial cell carbon, suggesting metabolism of the colonial matrix in the dark. The alga quickly resumed growth upon return to light. Phaeocystis antarctica also survived freezing, although longer freezing durations lengthened the lag before growth resumption. Particulate dimethylsulfoniopropionate relative to chlorophyll increased upon freezing and decreased upon darkness. Taken together, the abilities of P. antarctica to survive freezing and initiate growth quickly after darkness may provide it with the capability to survive in both the ice and the water column, and help explain its repeated dominance in austral spring blooms in the Ross Sea and elsewhere in the Southern Ocean. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ross Sea Southern Ocean Weddell Sea W&M ScholarWorks Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Sea Austral Ross Sea Weddell Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 276 1654 81 90 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
W&M ScholarWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftwilliammarycol |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ice Microbial Communities Phytoplankton Assemblage Composition Southern Ross Sea Primary Productivity Weddell-Sea Pack Ice Biomass Diatom Nutrients Algae Biological Sciences Peer-Reviewed Articles Aquaculture and Fisheries |
spellingShingle |
Ice Microbial Communities Phytoplankton Assemblage Composition Southern Ross Sea Primary Productivity Weddell-Sea Pack Ice Biomass Diatom Nutrients Algae Biological Sciences Peer-Reviewed Articles Aquaculture and Fisheries Tang, KW Smith, Walker O., Jr. Shields, AR Elliott, DT Survival and recovery of Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) from prolonged darkness and freezing |
topic_facet |
Ice Microbial Communities Phytoplankton Assemblage Composition Southern Ross Sea Primary Productivity Weddell-Sea Pack Ice Biomass Diatom Nutrients Algae Biological Sciences Peer-Reviewed Articles Aquaculture and Fisheries |
description |
The colony-forming haptophyte Phaeocystis antarctica is an important primary producer in the Ross Sea, and must survive long periods of darkness and freezing temperature in this extreme environment. We conducted experiments on the responses of P. antarctica-dominated phytoplankton assemblages to prolonged periods of darkness and freezing. Chlorophyll and photosynthetic capacity of the alga declined nonlinearly and independently of each other in the dark, and darkness alone would potentially reduce photosynthetic capacity by only 60 per cent over 150 days (approximately the length of the Antarctic winter in the southern Ross Sea). The estimated reduction of colonial mucous carbon is higher than that of colonial cell carbon, suggesting metabolism of the colonial matrix in the dark. The alga quickly resumed growth upon return to light. Phaeocystis antarctica also survived freezing, although longer freezing durations lengthened the lag before growth resumption. Particulate dimethylsulfoniopropionate relative to chlorophyll increased upon freezing and decreased upon darkness. Taken together, the abilities of P. antarctica to survive freezing and initiate growth quickly after darkness may provide it with the capability to survive in both the ice and the water column, and help explain its repeated dominance in austral spring blooms in the Ross Sea and elsewhere in the Southern Ocean. |
format |
Text |
author |
Tang, KW Smith, Walker O., Jr. Shields, AR Elliott, DT |
author_facet |
Tang, KW Smith, Walker O., Jr. Shields, AR Elliott, DT |
author_sort |
Tang, KW |
title |
Survival and recovery of Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) from prolonged darkness and freezing |
title_short |
Survival and recovery of Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) from prolonged darkness and freezing |
title_full |
Survival and recovery of Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) from prolonged darkness and freezing |
title_fullStr |
Survival and recovery of Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) from prolonged darkness and freezing |
title_full_unstemmed |
Survival and recovery of Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) from prolonged darkness and freezing |
title_sort |
survival and recovery of phaeocystis antarctica (prymnesiophyceae) from prolonged darkness and freezing |
publisher |
W&M ScholarWorks |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsarticles/970 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/1970/viewcontent/81.full.pdf |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Sea Austral Ross Sea Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Sea Austral Ross Sea Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ross Sea Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ross Sea Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
op_source |
VIMS Articles |
op_relation |
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsarticles/970 doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0598 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/1970/viewcontent/81.full.pdf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0598 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
276 |
container_issue |
1654 |
container_start_page |
81 |
op_container_end_page |
90 |
_version_ |
1768391438269153280 |