Trace metal contents of autotrophic flagellates from contrasting open‐ocean ecosystems

Nano- and picophytoplankton are a major component of open-ocean ecosystems and one of the main plankton functional types in biogeochemical models, yet little is known about their trace metal contents. In cultures of the picoeukaryote Ostreococcus lucimarinus, iron limitation reduced iron quotas by 68%, a fraction of the plasticity known in diatoms. In contrast, a commonly co-occurring cyanobacterium, Prochlorococcus, showed variable iron contents with iron availability in culture. Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence was used to measure single-cell metal (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn) quotas of autotrophic flagellates (1.4-16.8-mu m diameter) collected from four ocean regions. Iron quotas were tightly constrained and showed little response to iron availability, similar to cultured Ostreococcus. Zinc quotas also did not vary with zinc availability but appeared to vary with phosphorus availability. These results suggest that macronutrient and metal availability may be equally important for controlling metal contents of small eukaryotic open-ocean phytoplankton.