Open AccessStimulation of marine free‐living and epibiotic bacterial activity by copepod excretions
Author(s) -
Carman Kevin R
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.1994.tb00111.x
Subject(s) - copepod , biology , bacteria , leucine , nutrient , marine bacteriophage , ecology , food science , zoology , crustacean , amino acid , biochemistry , genetics
The influence of marine copepod exudates (amino acids and NH 4 + ) on activity by free‐living bacteria, and the relative activity of epibiotic bacteria living on copepods were examined. Samples that contained copepods (100 copepods 1 −1 ) were estimated to have leucine concentrations (K+S) that were higher by factor of 4.4, and leucine V max 's that were higher by a factor of 1.8 relative to samples without copepods. NH 4 + additions stimulated bacterial activity in samples that did not contain copepods, but had no effect in samples that contained copepods, suggesting that free‐living bacteria were N‐limited. Epibiotic bacteria accounted for about 20% of total bacterial activity. These results suggested that high‐density copepod aggregations may liberate nutrients in sufficient quantity to significantly stimulate bacterial activity, and that epibiotic bacteria may be optimally positioned to exploit these resources.