Effect of temperature and hydrostatic pressure on algal respiration
Rates of dark respiration in Anacystis nidulans and Dunaliella tertiolecta, determined as loss of previously fixed 14CO2, were measured as a function of temperature and hydrostatic pressure. The rates of respiration in both algae decreased with decreased temperature over the range 25 to 5 °C in an approximately linear fashion and at 5 °C were only 10 to 20% of the rate at 25 °C. The rate of respiration by A. nidulans decreased with increased hydrostatic pressure. At 600 atm the rate was about 50% of that at 1 atm. Respiration by D. tertiolecta seemed to be unaffected by pressures to 600 atm. These results suggest that algal cells observed to occur in the deep oceans are potentially metabolically active at those depths; that they cannot survive for long periods of time solely through the utilization of previously stored materials; and that a heterotrophic mode of metabolism is most likely to explain their occurrence. The differential effects of temperature and pressure on various metabolic processes and growth of microalgae are also discussed.