Strain-specific responses of Emiliania huxleyi to changing seawater carbonate chemistry

Gerald Langer (1, 2) , G. Nehrke (2) , Ian Probert (3) , J. Ly (1, 2) , P. Ziveri (4, 1)

1 UAB - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona = Autonomous University of Barcelona = Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona
2 AWI - Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung = Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research = Institut Alfred-Wegener pour la recherche polaire et marine
3 EPEP - Evolution des Protistes et Ecosystèmes Pélagiques
4 VU - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam [Amsterdam]

Four strains of the coccolithophore E. huxleyi (RCC1212, RCC1216, RCC1238, RCC1256) were grown in dilute batch culture at four CO2 levels ranging from ~200 μatm to ~1200 μatm. Growth rate, particulate organic carbon content, and particulate inorganic carbon content were measured, and organic and inorganic carbon production calculated. The four strains did not show a uniform response to carbonate chemistry changes in any of the analysed parameters and none of the four strains displayed a response pattern previously described for this species. We conclude that the sensitivity of different strains of E. huxleyi to acidification differs substantially and that this likely has a genetic basis. We propose that this can explain apparently contradictory results reported in the literature.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Sciences de l'environnement

Gerald Langer, G. Nehrke, Ian Probert, J. Ly, P. Ziveri. Strain-specific responses of Emiliania huxleyi to changing seawater carbonate chemistry . Biogeosciences, 2009, 6 (11), pp.2637-2646. ⟨10.5194/bg-6-2637-2009⟩. ⟨hal-01258266⟩