Ll. Richardson et Kd. Stolzenbach, PHYTOPLANKTON CELL-SIZE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MICROENVIRONMENTS, FEMS microbiology, ecology, 16(3), 1995, pp. 185-191
The effect of cell size on the development of extracellular microenvir
onments of pH produced by individual photosynthesizing phytoplankton c
ells was investigated. The presence of pH microenvironments was determ
ined by detection of a chemical reaction known to occur in microenviro
nments of high pH produced by algal photosynthesis, specifically the e
xtracellular oxidation of Mn(II) to MnOx. The dye leukoberbelin blue w
as used to detect the reaction. It was experimentally determined that
individual algal cells larger than 20 mu m (length and/or width) produ
ced microenvironments, while smaller cells did not unless present as c
ell aggregates larger than 20 mu m. A mathematical model is presented
and discussed.