[Coral-List] Diel nutrient uptake in cnidarians and zooxanthellae

bdtodd at bellsouth.net bdtodd at bellsouth.net
Tue Nov 4 19:16:50 EST 2003


Greetings,

I am reviewing several papers that examine the influence of light versus dark in driving nutrient uptake in cnidarians and zooxanthellae.  Based on the papers I have summarized below, there seems to be conflicting evidence presented in the papers and it is unclear to me what the consensus is, and if one exists.

I was hoping for some help in clarifying this issue.  Does light play a role in phosphate uptake by symbiotic cnidarians?

Additionally, I am unaware of any papers that specifically address diel or daily cycles in nutrient uptake instead of just comparing light and dark.  Are there some papers I am missing or is there a real scarcity of research on diel nutrient uptake?

Deane and O'Brien. 1981. Amphidinium exhibits greater phosphate uptake in dark than in light.

D'Elia. 1977. Numerous hermatypic corals exhibit soluble reactive phosphorus uptake in light and a steady excretion of organic phosphorus in light and dark.

Muller-Parker et al. 1990. They determine that light is not a factor in PO4 uptake by symbiotic Aiptasia pallida.

Jackson and Yellowlees. 1990. They determine that phosphate uptake is dependent on light in Symbiodinium isolated from Acropora formosa.

Thanks so much,
Brian Todd
bdtodd at bellsouth.net





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