Evolved physiological responses of phytoplankton to their integrated growth environment.

ABSTRACT: Phytoplankton growth and productivity relies on light, multiple nutrients and temperature. These combined factors constitute the 'integrated growth environment'. Since their emergence in the Archaean ocean, phytoplankton have experienced dramatic shifts in their integrated growth environment and, in response, evolved diverse mechanisms to maximize growth by optimizing the allocation of photosynthetic resources (ATP and NADPH) among all cellular processes. Consequently, co-limitation has become an omnipresent condition in the global ocean. Here we focus on evolved phytoplankton populations of the contemporary ocean and the varied energetic pathways they employ to solve the optimization problem of resource supply and demand. Central to this discussion is the allocation of reductant formed th

SUBMITTER: Behrenfeld MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2606763 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature