Nitrogen Assimilation and Partitioning in the Mediterranean Seagrass Posidonia oceanica |
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| Authors: | G P Kraemer L Mazzella R S Alberte |
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| Institution: | Laboratorio di Ecologia del Benthos, Stazione Zoologica di Napoli, 1–80077 Ischia Porto, Italy.;Department of Biology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. |
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| Abstract: | Abstract. The supply of nitrogen (N) often limits the productivity of marine macrophytes. In vitro and in vivo assays of glutamine synthetase (GS) activity were employed to investigate patterns of N assimilation by the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) DELILE. Biomass-specific GS activity wa measured in root tissue, in leaves within a shoot, in shoots collected at two sites during two season and over a depth range of 5–33 m. Root tissue was less important than shoot tissue in assimilating inorganic N in P. oceanica , due both to the small roots' biomass (ca. 3% of total plant biomass and greatly lower (10- to 50-fold) GS activities. While the GS activity and N assimilatory potentia (biomass × GS activity; μmol N-h--1) were greatest in leaf 2, leaves 1 and 3–5 assimilated N a significant rates. Shoots from a site characterized by elevated N availability in the winter water column and no significant sediment N reservoir exhibited GS activities that were 9-times higher than shoot from a more oligotrophic site. Shoot GS activities in July increased linearly from 5 to 33 m and wer correlated with light availability as defined by Hsat, (daily period during which photosynthetic reaction are light-saturated). This may represent metabolic compensation by P. oceanica to maintain N influx. Factors contributing to the ecological success of P. oceanica include the ability to assimilate N under conditions of severe light limitation (< 35 μmol photons. m-2. s-1), and metabolic plasticity to ensur the de novo generation of N-containing organic compounds. |
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| Keywords: | Glutamine synthetase nitrogen Posidonia seagrass |
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