Carbon-to-chlorophyll ratio and carbon content of phytoplankton community at the surface in coastal waters adjacent to the Zhujiang River Estuary during summer

Chlorophyll a(Chl a),particulate organic carbon(POC)and biogenic silica(BSi)were determined in coastal waters adjacent to the Zhujiang(Pearl)River Estuary(ZRE)during summer,in order to examine the C:Chl a ratio of phytoplankton and phytoplankton carbon in the plume-impacted coastal waters during summer,as well as to assess the relative contribution of diatoms to the phytoplankton biomass,by the regression between Chl a,POC and BSi.Our results showed that the C:Chl a ratio(g/g)of phytoplankton was high(up to 142),likely due to high light intensity and nutrient limitation.The river plume input stimulated phytoplankton growth,especially diatoms,resulting in higher relative contribution of phytoplankton carbon(55%)and diatoms(34%)to POC in the plume-impacted region than those(33%and 13%)in high salinity area,respectively.Phytoplankton carbon(up to 538μg/L)in the plume-impacted region was much higher than that(<166μg/L)in high salinity area.Our findings were helpful to improve the biogeochemical model in coastal waters adjacent to the ZRE.

Short-term metal accumulation and MTLP induction in the digestive glands of Perna virdis exposed to Zn and Cd

Time-dependent Zn and Cd accumulation and metallothionein like protein （MTLP） induction in the digestive glands of mussels, Perna virdis, were measured under different exposure conditions. The initial uptake rate at start of chase （ρ0） and mean residence time （τ） were calculated to determine the physiological response of organisms and their potential detoxification mechanisms. It was found that in digestive glands, Zn had obviously higher ρ0 and shorter mean residence time than Cd, indicating that these two metals had different accumulation dynamics even though they were very close in the periodic element table. MTLP levels in digestive glands varied from 0.51 to 1.05 μg/g ww （wet weight）. The MTLP level increased continuously when mussels were exposed to low and middle levels of Zn and Cd media, and reached maximal levels at day 4, then decreased when they were exposed to high level Zn and Cd solutions. With regard to the fraction of Zn and Cd accumulated in the digestive glands, the ratios of soluble metal to total metal decreased continuously after exposure in low and middle levels of Zn and Cd media, and decreased continuously in the first 4 days and then to level off when mussels were exposed to media with high concentration of Zn and Cd. Results suggested that both MTLP induction and metal insolubilization were detoxification processes in digestive glands of mussels.