Investigation was made into the influence of changing light
intensity on the organic and elemental composition of two species of
marine diatoms, Ditylum brightwellii and Skeletonema costatum.
Analysis was made of the relative changes in soluble and insoluble
carbohydrate; polar, non-polar, and total lipid; amino acids; proteins;
and total carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. Photosynthetic
quotients were calculated from both organic and elemental
composition.
The response of soluble and insoluble carbohydrate was
directly related to light intensity, although differences were noted
between the two fractions. In general, amino acids and proteins
showed little or no response to light intensity. Polar (pigment)
lipids usually varied inversely with light intensity, whereas non-polar
lipids varied directly with intensity. Total lipids also varied
inversely with intensity although, considering the total amount of
lipid present, the changes were slight. Some differences in relative
organic composition were noted between the two species. On the
basis of the data, average organic composition of each species was
computed and compared with similar data in the literature.
The effect of light intensity on the elemental composition of
the two species yielded some differences, which were more readily
apparent in the photosynthetic quotients calculated from elemental
data. The photosynthetic quotient varied inversely with light
intensity.
Conclusions are summarized and suggestions for future
research included. / Graduation date: 1970
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/29059 |
| Date | 18 July 1969 |
| Creators | Marmelstein, Allan |
| Contributors | Curl, Herbert C. Jr |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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