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Benthic Diatoms in Biofilm Culture

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The Diatom World

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 19))

Abstract

An incubator prototype specially designed for culturing aquatic phototrophic biofilms on substrata at controlled environmental conditions was used to perform continuous-flow microcosm experiments with freshwater and marine communities. Here we report on diatom accrual and compositional shifts during biofilm development in the system. Diatoms constituted a significant fraction, in taxon richness and biomass, of the biofilms inoculated in the incubator. The effect of different irradiances, medium flow rates and temperatures on community structure was simultaneously tested during six experiments. The role of key species and life forms (lifestyles) in the cultures was also addressed.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Francesca Di Pippo, Dr. Antonella Guzzon and Dr. Silvia Bonavita for their help during the PHOBIA experiments conducted in the Laboratory of Biology of Algae.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, LBA – Laboratory of Biology of Algae, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca scientifica, 00133, Rome, Italy

    Roberta Congestri & Patrizia Albertano

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  1. Roberta Congestri
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  2. Patrizia Albertano
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Correspondence to Roberta Congestri .

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  1. Jerusalem, The Hebrew University Of, P.O.Box 1132, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

  2. , Dept. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Museum of Natural, Henderson Bldg., 15th & Broadway, Boulder, 80309, Colorado, USA

    Patrick Kociolek

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Congestri, R., Albertano, P. (2011). Benthic Diatoms in Biofilm Culture. In: Seckbach, J., Kociolek, P. (eds) The Diatom World. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 19. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1327-7_10

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