title: Growth responses of Ulva prolifera to inorganic and organic nutrients: Implications for macroalgal blooms in the southern Yellow Sea, China.
abstract: The marine macrophyte Ulva prolifera is the dominant green-tide-forming seaweed in the southern Yellow Sea, China. Here we assessed, in the laboratory, the growth rate and nutrient uptake responses of U. prolifera to different nutrient treatments. The growth rates were enhanced in incubations with added organic and inorganic nitrogen [i.e. nitrate (NO3(-)), ammonium (NH4(+)), urea and glycine] and phosphorus [i.e. phosphate (PO4(3-)), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and glucose 6-phosphate (G-6-P)], relative to the control. The relative growth rates of U. prolifera were higher when enriched with dissolved organic nitrogen (urea and glycine) and phosphorus (ATP and G-6-P) than inorganic nitrogen (NO3(-) and NH4(+)) and phosphorus (PO4(3-)). In contrast, the affinity was higher for inorganic than organic nutrients. Field data in the southern Yellow Sea showed significant inverse correlations between macroalgal biomass and dissolved organic nutrients. Our laboratory and field results indicated that organic nutrients such as urea, glycine and ATP, may contribute to the development of macroalgal blooms in the southern Yellow Sea.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Marine Biology and Carbon Sequestration, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, China.
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Marine Biology and Carbon Sequestration, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, China.
authors.forename: Yongyu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China.
authors.forename: Xiurong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China.|National Marine Hazard Mitigation Service, Beijing, 100194, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL A1C 5S7, Canada.
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Rivkin
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, CNRS, Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Observatoire océanologique, 181 Chemin du Lazaret, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Legendre
mesh_terms: D064751:Ammonium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China; D005998:Glycine / Q000378:metabolism; D009566:Nitrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D010710:Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000378:metabolism; D044445:Ulva / Q000254:growth & development*; D014508:Urea / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D064751:Ammonium Compounds; D009566:Nitrates; D010710:Phosphates; D010758:Phosphorus; D014508:Urea; D005998:Glycine