Effects of Nitrogen Deprivation on Rates of Uptake of Nitrogenous Compounds by the Diatom, Phaeodactylum Tricornutum Bohlin

A culture of Phaeodactylum tricornutum was suspended in nitrogen-free growth medium under conditions which favoured photosynthesis. Nitrogen deprivation was continued for 60 h and, over this period, samples were removed for measurement of rates of uptake of arginine, guanine, nitrate, nitrite, lysine, methylammonium and urea. In another experiment, the effect of nitrogen deprivation on the ability to take up methylammonium and ammonium was compared. Cells developed, or increased, their abilities to take up all of these nitrogen compounds during nitrogen deprivation but ability to take up the two amino acids increased only slowly whereas the ability to take up the other compounds increased markedly during the first few hours of deprivation. The maximum rates of uptake developed were some 50-100 × higher for methylammonium and ammonium than they were for the other compounds. The rates of uptake are compared with those necessary to sustain growth.