Effects of Fe and Mn on the growth of a red tide dinoflagellateScrippsiella trochoidea (Stein) Loeblch III

Batch culture experiments were conducted with a red tide dinoflagellateScrippsiella trochoidea (Stein) Loeblch III collected from Jiaozhou Bay, Shangdong, China. Growth rates and oellular Chl—a were measured in media with iron and manganese ion concentrations controlled at different levels using EdTA-trace metal buffer systems. Cell density increased 3.2 times to 6.5 times over the range of lowest (0 mol/L) to highest (10⁻⁵ mol/L) iron and manganese ion concentrations. The range of cell density response was much lower than the range of total available iron and manganese, which was >100—fold that of Fe. This nonlinear relationship indicates that the cells adapt to make more efficient use of iron and manganese under limiting conditions. The cellular Chl—a content maximized after 3 days incubation and then decreased gradually under either iron or manganese limitation conditions. It indicated that the algae gained higher photosynthesis ability when transferred to a new environment. Growth responses to iron and manganese limitation can be both modeled according to the equation of Monod. The half—saturation constant for growth,k, is 4.6×10⁻⁸ mol/L for Fe and 5.1×10⁻⁸ mol/L for Mn. Our results showed that the iron availability in Jiaozhou Bay does not limit the growth ofS. trochoidea. Contribution No. 2831 from the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Project 9389008 supported by NSFC; Study supported by PDB6.