Kipinä, S. (1999) Effect of UV-B radiation on DMSP contents of the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi. Master's Thesis / Essay, Biology.
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Abstract
Emiliania huxleyi plays an important role in the global cycle of C02, the major greenhouse gas. It is a member of the Prymnesiophyceae, the class of marine microalgae that is notorious for its high level of DMSP, an osmolyte that is the precursor of dimethylsulfide (DMS). DMS is a volatile sulphur compound: it is released to the atmosphere when the balance of production, decomposition and transport of DMSP under water is positive. In the atmosphere DMS contributes to cloud formation because its oxidation products are cloud condensation nuclei. Emiliania has been said to counteract the greenhouse effect of CO2 in this way. The other "global change" phenomenon discussed nearly as much as global warming in the last decade is the increase in ultraviolet-B radiation because of depletion of atmospheric ozone. UV-B has a negative effect on phytoplankton performance, therewith limiting its CO2 uptake potential, but it was not known if the contents of DMSP in algal cells would change under enhanced UV-B radiation. The results of our laboratory experiments suggest that UV-B has no effect on the DMSP contents of Emiliania huxleyi cells. It is possible that the longer-wave UV component UV-A has counteracted UV-B effects on growth, cell division and DMSP production. The conclusion from the experiment is that increases in UV-B, expected to continue in the next decades, do not have to be considered in the global sulphur budget regarding DMSP-DMS cycling between sea and atmosphere as far as a major source of DMS is concerned: the DMSP production of Emiliania huxleyi.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master's Thesis / Essay) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Biology |
| Thesis type: | Master's Thesis / Essay |
| Language: | English |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Feb 2018 07:44 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Feb 2018 07:44 |
| URI: | https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/9385 |
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