Molecular biology in studies of oceanic primary production

Conference · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:7067033

LaRoche, J; Falkowski, P G ^[1]; Geider, R ^[2]

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1. Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
2. Delaware Univ., Lewes, DE (United States). Coll. of Marine Studies

Remote sensing and the use of moored in situ instrumentation has greatly improved our ability to measure phytoplankton chlorophyll and photosynthesis on global scales with high temporal resolution. However, the interpretation of these measurements and their significance with respect to the biogeochemical cycling of carbon relies on their relationship with physiological and biochemical processes in phytoplankton. For example, the use of satellite images of surface chlorophyll to estimate primary production is often based on the functional relationship between photosynthesis and irradiance. A variety of environmental factors such as light, temperature, nutrient availability affect the photosynthesis/irradiance (P vs I) relationship in phytoplankton. We present three examples showing how molecular biology can be used to provide basic insight into the factors controlling primary productivity at three different levels of complexity: 1. Studies of light intensity regulation in unicellular alga show how molecular biology can help understand the processing of environmental cues leading to the regulation of photosynthetic gene expression. 2. Probing of the photosynthetic apparatus using molecular techniques can be used to test existing mechanistic models derived from the interpretation of physiological and biophysical measurements. 3. Exploratory work on the expression of specific proteins during nutrient-limited growth of phytoplankton may lead to the identification and production of molecular probes for field studies.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 7067033
• Report Number(s): BNL-47654; CONF-9204164-1; ON: DE92016101
• Resource Relation: Conference: International symposium on the measurement of primary production from the molecular to global scale, La Rochelle (France), 19-26 Apr 1992
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BIOMASS
PRODUCTION
PHYTOPLANKTON
BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
CARBON CYCLE
CHLOROPHYLL
MEASURING METHODS
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
REMOTE SENSING
SEAS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
HETEROCYCLIC ACIDS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PHYTOCHROMES
PIGMENTS
PLANKTON
PLANTS
PORPHYRINS
PROTEINS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SURFACE WATERS
SYNTHESIS
540310* - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- (1990-)
550500 - Metabolism
560130 - Radiation Effects on Microorganisms