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Nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase activity, internal N pools, and growth of Ulva lactuca: responses to long and short-term N supply

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Abstract

Fast-growing macroalgae, including Ulva lactuca Linnaeus, respond rapidly to changes in nutrient conditions, particularly to short-term N supply. This ability to rapidly take up and assimilate N contributes to the increasing occurrence of macroalgal blooms in heavily N loaded coastal ecosystems. To determine whether long-term nutrient histories affect short-term responses in activity of N-assimilating enzymes, including nitrate reductase (NRA) and glutamine synthetase activity (GSA), internal N storage, and macroalgal growth, we conducted an in situ nitrate fertilization experiment between 7 and 22 July 2004, with fronds of U. lactuca collected from estuaries with high and low N loads in Waquoit Bay, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA (N 41° and W 70°). Initial NRA, GSA, % N, δ15N, and growth of U. lactuca fronds were higher in the site where nitrate was in high supply. Differences in NRA persisted even after short-term experimental enrichment. Differences in internal N pools, δ15N, and growth, in contrast, mirrored the changes of nutrient supply. The rate of turnover of the internal N content of U. lactuca was quite short (<2 d), and turnover of enzyme activity may have been even shorter. N isotopic fractionation by U. lactuca appeared to be of small magnitude, unlike the case of phytoplankton, and similar to that of vascular plants. δ15N was a better indicator of short-term response to external and internal nutrient supplies in U. lactuca than enzyme activity or N content, and may reliably detect rapid changes in N availability, source, and uptake and assimilation processes.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a NOS/ECOHAB grant, #NA16OP2728. This is ECOHAB publication # 169. This work was also supported in part by a Palmer McCleod Fellowship awarded to M. Teichberg, NSF REU support and Woods Hole Marine Science Consortium awarded to L. Heffner, and NOAA/NERRS and EPA STAR graduate fellowships awarded to S. Fox. The experiments comply with the current laws in the U.S.A. in which the experiments were performed.

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  1. L. R. Heffner

    Present address: Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI, 02882-1197, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biological Laboratory, Boston University Marine Program, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    M. Teichberg, L. R. Heffner, S. Fox & I. Valiela

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  1. M. Teichberg
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  2. L. R. Heffner
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  3. S. Fox
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  4. I. Valiela
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Correspondence to M. Teichberg.

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Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick.

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Teichberg, M., Heffner, L.R., Fox, S. et al. Nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase activity, internal N pools, and growth of Ulva lactuca: responses to long and short-term N supply. Mar Biol 151, 1249–1259 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0561-4

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