Utilization of iron bound to strong organic ligands by plankton communities in the subarctic Pacific Ocean

Experiments were conducted along a coastal-oceanic transect in the NE subarctic Pacific to examine acquisition of organically complexed Fe by autotrophic and heterotrophic plankton. During short-term experiments, plankton took up Fe bound to the siderophores desferrioxamine B and E, microbial Fe chelates with a high affinity for Fe. Uptake occurred in all size fractions: 0.2–1, 1–3, and >3 μm. Heterotrophic bacteria had higher Fe : C ratios (1.5 to 2 times) than phytoplankton, and accounted for 70±8% of the total Fe uptake by the community (mol Fe ml −1 h −1). This latter result was partially explained by the higher C biomass of bacteria, but was not related to their productivity. Carbon-specific uptake rates of Fe were also faster (1.6±1.5 times) in bacteria than phytoplankton. When the rates were normalized per cell surface area, however, phytoplankton were observed to transport Fe at a rate more than 30 times that of bacteria. Large phytoplankton greater than 3 μm reduced Fe bound to organic ligands extracellularly. Their Fe : C ratios and rates of uptake and reduction of organically bound Fe were very similar at all stations along the transect and were characteristic of Fe-stressed phytoplankton. A strong seasonal trend of Fe uptake and reduction was apparent. The results suggest that heterotrophic bacteria are responsible for a large fraction of dissolved Fe uptake and that the indigenous plankton of the subarctic Pacific are able to acquire Fe bound to strong organic ligands, the predominant form of dissolved Fe in the sea.