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Luxury uptake of aerosol iron by Trichodesmium in the western tropical North Atlantic
Author(s) -
Chen Ying,
TovarSanchez Antonio,
Siefert Ronald L.,
SañudoWilhelmy Sergio A.,
Zhuang Guoshun
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2011gl048972
Subject(s) - trichodesmium , aerosol , environmental science , oceanography , cyanobacteria , subtropics , environmental chemistry , atmospheric sciences , chemistry , biology , nitrogen , diazotroph , nitrogen fixation , geology , ecology , organic chemistry , bacteria , genetics
Dust transported from North Africa carries micronutrient iron (Fe) to the western tropical North Atlantic (WTNA) which may significantly influence the metabolism of the N 2 ‐fixing cyanobacteria, Trichodesmium . For the first time, we conducted shipboard incubation experiments using freshly collected aerosol, seawater, and Trichodesmium colonies. Trichodesmium assimilated significant amount of aerosol Fe up to 14 times higher than the control. The uptake amount increased proportionally to the P: Fe ratio that Trichodesmium initially contained and to the aerosol Fe added and leached to the incubation solution. Trichodesmium assimilated more aerosol Fe than needed for its maximum growth (0.14 d −1 ) demonstrating a high capacity of luxury uptake of Fe from the dust.