Control of microbial growth and of amphipod grazing by water-soluble compounds from leaves of Zostera marina (original) (raw)
Abstract
The role of minor components of the leaves of Zostera marina L. in altering the activity of micro-organisms directly (and indirectly by affecting amphipod grazers) was investigated in laboratory experiments, using plants collected at Roberts Bank (49°2′N; 123°8′W) on the west coast of Canada. Water-soluble extracts of eelgrass leaves inhibited the growth of a micro-alga (Platymonas sp.) and many marine bacteria at concentrations equivalent to as little as 10 mg dry leaf l-1. The potency of leaf extracts was higher (1) in young, actively metabolizing tissue than in older leaves, and (2) in leaves collected during rapid growth in summer 1980 than during the following winter. Water-soluble inhibitors (especially phenolic acids) may explain the low biomass of epiphytes on actively growing leaves. Three phenolic acids inhibited the test micro-organisms at concentrations as low as 0.3 mg l-1; caffeic acid was more potent than either protocatechuic or gentisic acid. Extracts of young leaves also inhibited grazing by amphipods [Eogammarus confervicolus (Stimpson)] on dead leaves. The time required for leaching of soluble inhibitors may account for the delay between the loss of leaves from the plants and the onset of grazing. Thus, interactions among the biotic components of the detritus ecosystem may be significantly modified by minor compounds in the leaves of Z. marina
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Authors and Affiliations
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, V6T 2B1, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Paul G. Harrison
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Communicated by N. D. Holland, La Jolla
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Harrison, P.G. Control of microbial growth and of amphipod grazing by water-soluble compounds from leaves of Zostera marina.Marine Biology 67, 225–230 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00401288
- Accepted: 15 January 1982
- Issue date: April 1982
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00401288