RT journal article
T1 Potential uptake of dissolved organic matter by seagrasses and macroalgae
A1 Van Engeland, Tom
A1 Bouma, Tjeerd J.
A1 Morris, Edward P.
A1 Brun Murillo, Fernando Guillermo
A1 Peralta González, Gloria
A1 Lara, Miguel
A1 Hendriks, Iris E.
A1 Soetaert, Karline
A1 Middelburg, Jack J.
A2 Biología
K1 uptake
K1 dissolved organic nitrogen
K1 stable isotopes
K1 Zostera noltii
K1 Cymodocea nodosa
K1 Caulerpa prolifera
K1 seagrasses
K1 macroalgae
K1 RNM-214
AB Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) acts as a large reservoir of fixed nitrogen. Whereas DON utilization is common in the microbial community, little is known about utilization by macrophytes. We investigated the ability of the coexisting temperate marine macrophytes Zostera noltii, Cymodocea nodosa, and Caulerpa prolifera to take up nitrogen and carbon from small organic substrates of different molecular complexities (urea, glycine, L-leucine, and L-phenylalanine) and from dissolved organic matter (DOM) derived from algal and bacterial cultures (substrates with a complex composition). In addition to inorganic nitrogen, nitrogen from small organic substrates could be taken up in significant amounts by all macrophytes. Substrate uptake by the aboveground tissue differed from that of the belowground tissue. No relationships between carbon and nitrogen uptake of small organics were found. The preference for individual organic substrates was related to their structural complexity and C:N ratio. Uptake of algae-derived organic nitrogen was of similar magnitude as inorganic nitrogen, and was preferred over bacteria-derived nitrogen. These results add to the growing evidence that direct or quick indirect DON utilization may be more widespread among aquatic macrophytes than traditionally thought.
PB Inter Research
SN 0171-8630
YR 2011
FD 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/11041
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/11041
LA eng
NO This research was supported  by the regional government of Andalusia project FUNDIV (P07-RNM-2516), the Spanish Project CTM2008-00012/MAR,  a European Reintegration Grant (MERG-CT-2007-205675),  a travel grant from Schure-Beijerinck-Popping Fund (SBP/JK/2007-32) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Thanks to Fidel Echevarrìa Navas (Director of CACYTMAR) for granting us access to facilities, and to Bas Koutstaal for helping with sample processing. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments which significantly improved this manuscript.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 07-nov-2026