Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1995

DOI

10.3354/meps121053

Publication Title

Marine Ecology Progress Series

Volume

121

Issue

1-3

Pages

53-63

Abstract

In the Northern Adriatic Sea, extracellular enzymatic activity was measured during a Lagrangian study following a drifting buoy for 40 h. Dissolved free enzymatic activity represented 20 to 70% of total activity depending on the type of enzyme. alpha- and beta-glucosidases exhibited a significantly higher free activity than proteolytic enzymes. In subsequent laboratory experiments we investigated the effect of zooplankton on the free enzyme pool. The 4-step approach included: (1) determination of the enzymatic activities in copepods (mainly Acartia clausi); (2) enzymatic activity in fecal pellets; (3) short- and long-term grazing experiments; and (4) degradability of free glucosidase in seawater. alpha- and beta-glucosidases, leu-aminopeptidase, lipase and chitinase were examined. Experiments in which zooplankton were selectively enriched revealed a significant increase in both particle-bound (due to the increase of bacterial density) and dissolved free enzymatic activity. Incubating water enriched in free enzymes released by zooplankton with natural bacterial consortia, we found that 70% of the original alpha- and beta-glucosidase activity remained after 22 h. The presence of microorganisms did not enhance the degradation of these enzymes as compared to autoclaved controls. We found that a considerable amount of free dissolved enzymes is lost by 0.2 mu m filtration using Nuclepore filters, thereby leading to an underestimation of dissolved enzymes by similar to 30% in our experiments. Based on our results we conclude that mesozooplankton contribute to the free enzymatic activity in natural waters especially during periods of high grazing activity.

Original Publication Citation

Bochdansky, A. B., Puskaric, S., & Herndl, G. J. (1995). Influence of zooplankton grazing on free dissolved enzymes in the sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 121(1-3), 53-63. doi:10.3354/meps121053

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