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Pigment and lipid compositions of algal and bacterial communities in Ace Lake, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica

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Abstract

The compositions of carotenoids, chlorophylls and lipids at four depths in Ace Lake have been determined as a means of studying the vertical zonation of species in the lake and for comparison with the lipids found in the bottom sediments. The four major species of phytoplankton found in the lake were identified by electron microscopy. The most abundant phytoplankter was Pyramimonas gelidicola McFadden (Chlorophyta, Prasinophyceae) which occurred in greatest numbers at 10 m, the base of the oxylimnion. The pigments and lipids at this depth were mainly derived from this alga. At 11 m (the top of the anoxylimnion) only traces of lipids and pigments attributable to P. gelidicola were found, indicating only limited settling of algal cells through to the anoxylimnion, at least in summer. The pigments at 11 m were dominated by bacteriochlorophylls c derived from green photosynthetic bacteria Chlorobium spp. These pigments were also abundant at 23 m suggesting the presence of intact bacterial cells which had settled out from higher in the water column. Major non-polar lipid classes in the sediments included sterols, alcohols, hydrocarbons and an unusual suite of very long-chain unsaturated ketones and esters which have not previously been reported from antarctic environments. Several novel compounds, not found previously in either sediments or organisms, are reported. These include tri- and tetra-unsaturated straight-chain C39 methyl ketones and C40 ethyl ketones and the methyl ester of a tetra-unsaturated straight-chain C36 fatty acid. The distributions of lipids in the sediment were markedly different from those in the water column indicating extensive bacterial degradation and recycling of labile lipids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Marine Laboratories, Division of Oceanography, GPO Box 1538, 7001, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    J. K. Volkman & D. A. Everitt

  2. Antarctic Division, Department of Science, Channel Highway, 7050, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia

    H. R. Burton

  3. Chemistry Department, University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252C, 7001, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    D. I. Allen

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  1. J. K. Volkman
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  2. H. R. Burton
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  3. D. A. Everitt
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  4. D. I. Allen
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Volkman, J.K., Burton, H.R., Everitt, D.A. et al. Pigment and lipid compositions of algal and bacterial communities in Ace Lake, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. Hydrobiologia 165, 41–57 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00025573

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