Origin and characteristics of the zooplankton phosphatase activity in a coastal ecosystem of the Mediterranean sea (Toulon Bay)

In Toulon Bay (France), very high phosphatase activities have been found in the zooplankton fraction>90 microm. This work was intended to specify their origin. For that purpose, larvae, juvenile and adult Crustacea (Copepods: Calanoids, Cyclopoids, Branchiopods: Cladocera, and Cirripeds) were isolated. Their activities were measured using paranitrophenyl phosphate dissolved in sea water in order to calculate Km (the enzyme half saturation concentration) and Vmax (the reaction rate when the enzyme is saturated with substrate). Vmax were referred to protein contents of the isolated organisms to calculate specific activities. For all zooplankton groups high and low affinity phosphatase activities were found. The low affinity enzyme was responsible for at least 70% of the total phosphatase activity. Its specific activity was higher for larvae than for copepodites and adults. In Cirriped nauplii this activity was particularly high with values which were several hundred times higher than that in other Crustacea. These enzymes had optimum pH close to 8.4, magnesium requirement and were competitively inhibited by orthophosphate. Experiments with intact and lysed Cirriped nauplii confirmed that living organisms had only a weak external activity and showed that most of the activity of these larvae was primarily intracellular.     

Alkaline phosphatase in a littoral Mediterranean marine ecosystem: role of the main plankton size classes

This work investigates the alkaline phosphatase activity in a littoral marine ecosystem (Toulon Bay and Le Niel Bay, France) in order to study its biochemical characteristics with respect to pH, sea water composition and phosphate sensitivity. We also characterise the active forms in sea water and determine the extent to which zooplankton generate phosphatase activity with respect to other plankton classes. In Toulon Bay, phosphatase was produced mostly by the microplankton fraction (>90 μm), accounting for more than 90% of total activity. In contrast, most of the phosphatase activity in Le Niel Bay was generated by the nanoplankton fraction (5–90 μm) and the picoplankton fraction (0.25–5 μm). The microplankton enzymes had non Michaelis-Menten kinetics suggesting the involvement of multiple enzyme processes with distinct kinetic constants. This activity is in major part secreted into the sea water and is stimulated by the ionic strength and the pH of the sea water. Cypris larvae of the genus Balanus played a special role in this release. For the nanoplankton and picoplankton, part of this activity was due to non-secreted enzymes, probably bound to membranes or occurring intracellularly. Moreover, nano and picoplankton phosphatase required higher pH than microplankton enzyme. For all plankton size classes, there was no activity at low pH, suggesting that acid phosphatases were not involved in reactions with substrates dissolved in water.     

Seasonal changes in phosphatase activities in Toulon Bay (France)

We studied the characteristics of the phosphatase activity (Km and Vmax) in total seawater and in particulate material of the three main plankton classes (0.25-5, 5-90 and >90 microm) in a coastal marine ecosystem of Toulon Bay (French Mediterranean Sea). The measurement of the hydrolysis of sodium paranitrophenylphosphate (pNPP), a substrate of phosphatase, revealed low and high affinity components in unfiltered seawater and in particulate matter. In unfiltered seawater, the low affinity activity was predominant from October to March during phytoplankton development. The high affinity activity dominated from April to June and was significantly correlated with the bacterial abundances. The phosphatase behaviour in the particulate material differs from that in the unfiltered seawater. The activity of the three particulate classes was generally much lower than that of unfiltered seawater, particularly the low affinity activity. The >90 microm size fraction consisted in greater part of zooplankton. In this size class, the activity (nmol l(-1) h(-1)) of the low affinity component was predominant from May to August, when the abundance of the larvae of copepods (copepodites) was highest. Its high specific activity (Activity/Protein concentration as nmol l(-1) h(-1) microg(-1)) was particularly elevated during this period. The 5-90 microm fraction consisted of phytoplankton cells, especially Dinoflagellates. Between September and January, the activity (nmol l(-1) h(-1)) of this size class was mostly supported by the low affinity component. The specific activity (nmol l(-1) h(-1) microg(-1)) of the high affinity component was highest in June and August. No significant correlation was found between phosphatase activities and chlorophyll a or total cell abundance. In return temporary relationships with specific taxa exist in particular with Ceratium spp., Gymnodinium spp. and Protoperidinium spp. The contribution of the 0.25-5 microm size class exceeded rarely 20% of the total particulate activity. Between June and August, high specific activities (nmol l(-1) h(-1) microg(-1)) were observed for its high affinity component. In autumn, strong rainfall increased the phosphate and nitrate concentrations and led to a drop in salinity, which probably explains the low phosphatase activities (nmol l(-1) h(-1)) and cell densities observed during this period.     

西乡群三郎铺组和大石沟组火山岩U-Pb定年及岩石成因研究

三郎铺组不整合上覆于孙家河组之上,与大石沟组呈连续过渡关系,两者均为一套火山沉积岩系。三郎铺组火山岩主要为玄武岩和流纹岩,大石沟组火山岩包括玄武岩、安山岩、流纹岩。大石沟组流纹岩LA-ICPMS锆石U-Pb定年揭示流纹岩形成时代为803.0±5.3Ma,属新元古代岩浆作用产物。元素地球化学和三郎铺组特有的陆相火山岩结构表明火山岩形成大陆板内伸展环境,属亚碱性火山岩系。三郎铺组玄武岩和流纹岩组成双峰式火山岩套,微量元素比值对模拟结果表明玄武岩浆来源于岩石圈地幔中原始石榴石二辉橄榄岩的部分熔融,部分熔融程度约为7%; 三郎铺组流纹岩浆源岩可能为白勉峡组下部的玄武质岩石,岩浆起源于斜长石稳定的下地壳源区或部分熔融形成的原生岩浆在上升过程中,经历了较为显著的斜长石结晶分异作用过程。大石沟组玄武岩、安山岩和流纹岩具有相同的微量元素比值、ε(t)值和t_DM,为同一母岩浆分离结晶的产物。玄武岩浆起源于原始石榴石二辉橄榄岩约10%的部分熔融,玄武岩浆分离结晶后残余岩浆比例约70%时形成安山岩浆,残余岩浆比例约20%~30%时产生流纹岩浆; 分离结晶的主要矿物包括斜长石和铁钛氧化物。三郎铺组和大石沟组均是新元古代晚期大陆裂谷作用的岩浆响应。