Effect of Phosphate and Silicate on The Growth of Harmful Marine Diatom: Thalassiosira Allenii Takano (Bacillariophyceae)

In order to better understand the effect of phosphorus and silica on Thalassiosira allenii (Takano), the effects of 6 different concentrations of reactive PO4 and 7 different concentrations of reactive Si were investigated. T. allenii was isolated from Izmir Bay-Northern Aegean Sea-Turkey and incubated in a f/2 enrichment medium under constant light in a batch culture system. The growth rate of the species was measured as Chi a (mg/l) by monitoring the exponential growth phase. The statistical analysis of the obtained data was performed by utilizing the method of least squares. Half saturation constant (K-s) and maximum specific growth rate (mu(max)) values estimated for phosphorus and silica were obtained as follows: K-s=0.55 mu M PO4-P and mu(max)=0.847 day(-1) for phosphorus, -K-s=0.615 mu M Si and mu(max)=0.989 day(-1) for silica. This results shows that T. allenii species has ability to take a great role on algal blooms in coastal waters which particularly domestic pollution load intense and changes of Si frequently experiencing.