Abstract
The influence of nutrient deprivation on cell-cycle progression was examined in two phytoplankton species, the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii (actin) and the coccolithophorid Hymenomonas carterae (cocco II). The diatom was starved for nitrogen, silicon or both, whereas only nitrogen limitation was examined in H. carterae. In both species, nitrogen-starved cells were arrested in the early part of the cell cycle (G1 phase). In the diatom, silicon-starvation arrested cells in late G1 phase and also in the last part of the cell cycle (G2+M). In all cases, cell-cycle arrest could be reversed by addition of fresh medium, but cell-cycling times during the first generation were increased in comparison to those in nutrient replete, steady-state growth conditions. These results supply evidence for simultaneous dual-nutrient limitation of population growth and provide a mechanistic interpretation for the division patterns observed in cultures where nutrients are supplied periodically.
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Communicated by J. M. Pérès, Marseille
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Vaulot, D., Olson, R.J., Merkel, S. et al. Cell-cycle response to nutrient starvation in two phytoplankton species, Thalassiosira weissflogii and Hymenomonas carterae . Mar. Biol. 95, 625–630 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393106
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393106