Role of nitrogen versus phosphorus availability on the effect of UV radiation on bacterioplankton and their recovery from previous UV stress

Author(s)
Clemens Pausz, Gerhard J. Herndl
Abstract

The influence of nitrogen (N) versus phosphorus (P) availability on the sensitivity of marine bacterioplankton to solar radiation and on their recovery from UV stress was assessed in laboratory experiments under high versus low substrate concentrations. Bacterioplankton were exposed to artificial solar radiation closely resembling natural radiation levels for 4 h and aliquots were subsequently exposed to different radiation ranges for 3 h. Bacterial activity was significantly reduced after exposure to solar radiation, as compared to the activity measured prior to the exposure, only in P-deplete conditions under both, high, and low substrate conditions. Exposure of the bacterioplankton to different radiation ranges following exposure to the full range of solar radiation revealed that nucleotide excision repair is probably more important than the photoenzymatic DNA repair mechanism. Recovery from previous UV stress was similar under N- and P-deplete bacterial growth at high substrate conditions. Under low substrate conditions, however, the recovery efficiency was significantly lower under P- than under N-deplete conditions. Thus, we conclude that to a large extent, P availability determines the sensitivity of bacterioplankton to UV radiation and the recovery efficiency from previous UV stress in oligotrophic surface waters.

Organisation(s)
Functional and Evolutionary Ecology
External organisation(s)
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
Journal
Aquatic Microbial Ecology
Volume
29
Pages
89-95
No. of pages
7
ISSN
0948-3055
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3354/ame029089
Publication date
09-2002
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
106022 Microbiology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Aquatic Science
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 14 - Life Below Water
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/af3a61ef-db3f-4a3b-95f3-5353b2e0fcb6