Short term rates of 14C uptake for single cells and small numbers of isolated algal cells of five phytoplankton species from natural populations were measured by liquid scintillation counting. Regression analysis of uptake rates per cell for cells isolated from unialgal cultures of seven species of dinoflagellates, ranging in volume from ca. 103 to 107 µm3, gave results identical to uptake rates per cell measured by conventional 14C techniques. Relative standard errors of regression coefficients ranged between 3 and 10%, indicating that for any species there was little variation in photosynthesis per cell.
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Rivkin et al. (1981) studied this question.