EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON PHOTOSYNTHESIS PATTERNS IN PHAEODACTYLUM TRICORNUTUM (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE). I. EFFECT OF NITROGEN DEFICIENCY AND LIGHT INTENSITY

Cultures of the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin incorporated, a large proportion of the total fixed carbon (50% or more) into amino acids and amides during short periods of photo‐assimilation of ¹⁴C‐labelled carbon dioxide. Although increasing nitrogen limitation in a nitrate‐limited chemostat had little significant effect on the proportion of C incorporated into amino acids and amides combined, it did affect the distribution of radioactivity within individual compounds of this group. In particular, increasing degrees of N deficiency reduced the proportion incorporated into amides to almost undetectable levels, reduced the proportion in alanine and increased the proportion in glutamic acid. Also, increasing N limitation decreased the relative synthesis of sugar phosphates and increased the proportion of C assimilated into intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Reduced light intensity did not have any significant effect on the proportion of C incorporated into the total amino acids and amides, but did cause a decrease in the radioactivity