Abstract
The existence of an internal inorganic carbon pool in the perforate foraminifer Amphistegina lobifera, as suggested recently (ter Kuile and Erez 1987), has been established by direct measurements using a new 14C tracer method. The imperforate species Amphisorus hemprichii does not contain such a pool. The size of the pool in A. lobifera is proportional to its calcification rate and approximately equals the amount of carbon incorporated into the skeleton during 24 h. Time course experiments show that inorganic carbon (Ci) is photoassimilated at constant rates by the algal symbionts, that the pool is filled to maximum capacity in ca. 24 h, and that Ci incorporation into the skeleton starts only after the pool is filled up. During the chase phase of pulsechase experiments, all 14C initially residing in the pool is transferred to the skeleton, indicating that the pool serves for calcification and not for photosynthesis. Uptake of Ci into the pool occurs only in the light, indicating that energy may be required for this process. Furthermore, calculations of the Ci concentration inside the pool suggest that it is higher by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude compared to seawater concentration, suggesting that its accumulation is an energy dependent process.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Angell, W. (1979). Calcification during chamber development in Rosalina Floridana. J. Foram. Res. V. 9: 341–353
Angell, W. (1980). Test morphogenesis (chamber formation) in the foraminifer Spiroloculina Hyalina Schulze. J. Foram. Res. 10: 89–101
Borowitzka, M. A., Larkum, A. W. D. (1976). Calcification in the green algae Halimeda III. The sources of inorganic carbon for photosynthesis and calcification and a model of the mechanism of calcification. J. exp. Bot. 279: 879–893
Crossland, C. J., Barnes, D. J., Cox, T., Devereux, M. (1980). Compartmentation and turnover of organic carbon in the staghorn coral Acropora formosa. Mar. Biol. 59: 181–187
Erez, J. (1977). Influence of symbiotic algae on the stable isotope composition of hermatypic corals: a radioactive tracer approach. Proc. 3rd Int. Symp. coral Reefs 2: 563–569. [Taylor, D. L. (ed.) School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Miami]
Erez, J. (1978). Vital effect on stable-isotope composition seen in foraminifera and coral skeletons. Nature, Lond. 273: 199–202
Erez, J. (1983). Calcification rates, photosynthesis and light in planktonic foraminifera. In: Westbroek, P., de Jong, E. W. (eds.) Biomineralization and biological metal accumulation. Reidel, Dordrecht, p. 307–313
Goreau, T. F. (1963). Calcium carbonate deposition by coralline algae and corals in relation to their role as reef builders. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 109: 127–167
Goreau, T. J. (1977). Coral skeletal chemistry: physiological and environmental regulation of stable isotopes and trace metals in Montastrea annularis. Proc R. Soc. Lond. B 196: 291–315
Hemleben, CH., Anderson, O. R., Berthold, W., Spindler, M. (1986). Chamber formation in Foraminifera — a brief overview. In: Leadbeater, B.S.C. Riding, R. (eds.) Biomineralization in lower plants and animals. Syst. Assoc. Spec. Vol. 30: p. 237–249
Kaplan, A., Zenvirth, D., Reinhold, L., Berry, J. A. (1982). Involvement of a primary electrogenic pump in the mechanism for HCO 3− uptake by the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis. Plant Physiol. 69: 978–982
Kaplan, A., Volokita, M. Zenvirth, D., Reinhold, L. (1984). An essential role for sodium in the bicarbonate transporting system of the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis. FEBS 176: 166–168
Koestler, R. J., Lee, J. J., Reidy, J., Sheryll, R. P., Xenophontos, X. (1985). Cytological investigation of digestion and reestablishment of symbiosis in the larger benthic foraminifer Amphistegina Lessonii. Endocyt. C. Res. 2: 21–54
Kuile, B. ter, Erez, J. (1984). In situ growth rate experiments on the symbiont-bearing foraminifera Amphistegina lobifera and Amphisorus hemprichii. J. Foram. Res. 14: 262–276
Kuile, B. ter, Erez, J. (1987). Uptake of inorganic carbon and internal carbon cycling in symbiont-bearing benthonic foraminifera. Mar. Biol. 94: 499–509
Leutenegger, S. (1977). Ultrastructure de Foraminiferes perfores et imperfores ainsi que leurs symbiotes. Cah. de Micropaleont. 3: 1–52
Leutenegger, S., Hansen, H. J. (1979). Ultrastructure and radiotracer studies of pore function in foraminifera. Mar. Biol. 54: 11–16
Lucas, W. J. (1983). Photosynthetic assimilation of exogenous HCO3-by aquatic plants. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 34: 71–104
Rottger, R., Spindler, M., Schmaljohann, R., Richwien, M., Fladung, M. (1984). Functions of the canal system in the rotaliid foraminifer, Heterostegina depressa. Nature, Lond. 309: 789–791
Swart, P. K. (1983). Carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation in scleractinian corals: a review. Earth-Sci. Rev. 19: 51–80
Weber, J. N., Woodhead, P. M. J. (1970). Carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation in the skeletal carbonate of reef building corals. Chem. Geol. 6: 93–117
Volokita, M., Zenvirth, D., Kaplan, A., Reinhold, L. (1984). Nature of the inorganic carbon species actively taken up by the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis. Plant Physiol. 76: 599–602
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
ter Kuile, B., Erez, J. The size and function of the internal inorganic carbon pool of the foraminifer Amphistegina lobifera . Mar. Biol. 99, 481–487 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00392555
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00392555