Uptake of dissolved free amino acids by four cold-water coral species from the Mediterranean Sea
Share
Metadata
Show full item recordAuthors
Gori, A. (Andrea); Grover, R. (Renaud); Orejas, C. (Covadonga); Sikorski, S. (Séverine); Ferrier-Pagès, C. (Christine)Editor's version
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967064513002373Date
2014Type
articleKeywords
Cold-water coralsDissolved free amino acids
Dissolved organic matter
Trophic ecology
Mediterranean Sea
Abstract
Dissolved organic matter, which contains many compounds such as lipids, sugars and amino acids, is an
important source of carbon and nitrogen for several symbiotic and asymbiotic tropical coral species.
However, there is still no information on its possible uptake by cold-water coral species. In this study, we
demonstrated that dissolved organic matter, in the form of dissolved free amino acids (DFAA), is actively
absorbed by four cold-water coral species from the Mediterranean Sea. Although the uptake rates
observed with 3mM DFAA concentration were one order of magnitude lower than those observed in
tropical species, they corresponded to 12–50% of the daily excreted-nitrogen, and 16–89% of the daily
respired-carbon of the cold-water corals. Consequently, DFAA, even at in situ concentrations lower than
those tested in this study, can supply a significant amount of carbon and nitrogen to the corals, especially
during periods when particulate food is scarce.