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Effects of Dissolved Organic Matter Photoproducts and Mineral Nutrient Supply on Bacterial Growth in Mediterranean Inland Waters

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Abstract

Sunlight reacts with dissolved organic matter (DOM) modifying its availability as bacterial substrate. We assessed the impact of DOM photoproducts and mineral nutrient supply on bacterial growth in seven inland waters from the South of Spain, where DOM is characterized by low chromophoric content and long residence time. Factorial experiments were performed with presence vs absence of DOM photoproducts and mineral nutrient supply. In six of the seven experiments, we found a significant and negative effect of DOM photoproducts on bacterial growth and a significant and positive effect of mineral nutrient supply. The interaction of these two factors leaded to a compensation of negative effects of photoproducts by availability of mineral nutrients. Dissolved organic matter diagenetic status and the ionic environment where organic carbon is dissolved can be influencing bacterial DOM processing.

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Acknowledgments

We thank J. Montero Meléndez, A. Castañeda, and J.A. Delgado Molina for their assistance in the field. Dissolved organic carbon samples were kindly analyzed in the laboratory of Dr. M.L. Pace. Stable isotope analyses of oxygen were carried out by the Stable Isotope Facility at Estación Experimental del Zaidín (CSIC, Granada, Spain). This research was supported by Project CGL 2005-00076 to I. Reche.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, 18071, Spain

    Eva Ortega-Retuerta, Elvira Pulido-Villena & Isabel Reche

  2. Laboratoire d’Oceanographie de Villefranche-LOV (UMR-CNRS 7093), Villefranche-sur-Mer, 06238, France

    Elvira Pulido-Villena

  3. Instituto del Agua, Universidad de Granada, Granada, 18071, Spain

    Isabel Reche

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  1. Eva Ortega-Retuerta
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  2. Elvira Pulido-Villena
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Correspondence to Eva Ortega-Retuerta.

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Ortega-Retuerta, E., Pulido-Villena, E. & Reche, I. Effects of Dissolved Organic Matter Photoproducts and Mineral Nutrient Supply on Bacterial Growth in Mediterranean Inland Waters. Microb Ecol 54, 161–169 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-006-9186-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-006-9186-x

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