Effects of nitrogen supply on Pseudo-nitzschia calliantha and Pseudo-nitzschia cf. seriata: field and laboratory experiments

The effects of inorganic and organic nitrogen supply on the growth and domoic acid (DA) production of Pseudo-nitzschia cf. seriata and Pseudo-nitzschia calliantha from Bizerte Lagoon (SW Mediterranean Sea) were studied during field and laboratory experiments. Nitrogen enrichments (40 µM NO3−; 10 µM NH4+; 20 µM CH4N2O) and a control, with no added N, were carried out in separate carboys with seawater collected from Bizerte Lagoon. In the field experiments, all N-enrichments resulted in significant increases in chlorophyll a concentration, and maintained exponential growth until the end of the experiment. The initial diatom community was dominated by a bloom of P. cf. seriata (9.3 × 105 cells l−1). After 6 days of incubation, the abundance of P. cf. seriata was greatest in the urea addition (1.52 × 106 cells l−1), compared to the ammonium treatment (0.47 × 106 cells l−1), nitrate treatment (0.70 × 106 cells l−1) and control (0.36 × 106 cells l−1). The specific growth rates, calculated from increases in chlorophyll a and cell abundance, were statistically different across all treatments, with the highest in the urea and nitrate additions. Similar results were obtained from the laboratory experiments. These were carried out with P. calliantha isolated from Bizerte Lagoon and grown in f/2 medium enriched with 40 µM nitrate, 10 µM ammonium and 20 µM urea. The exponential growth rate was significantly faster for the cells cultured with urea (1.50 d−1) compared to the nitrate (0.90 d−1) and ammonium (0.80 d−1) treatments and the control (0.40 d−1). Analysis of DA, performed at the beginning and the end of the both experiments in all treatments, revealed very low concentrations (below the limit of quantification, 0.02- 1.310−7 pg cell−1, respectively).The field and laboratory experiments demonstrate that P.cf. seriata and P. calliantha are able to grow efficiently on the three forms of N, but with a preference for urea.