Understanding the zooplankton ammonium excretion: from biogeochemical implications to intracellular regulatory mechanisms

• Autores: Igor Fernández Urruzola
• Directores de la Tesis: María Milagrosa Gómez Cabrera (dir. tes.), Theodore Train Packard (dir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ( España ) en 2016
• Idioma: inglés
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Fidel Echevarría Navas (presid.), Antonio J. González Ramos (secret.), Carlos Almeida Peña (voc.), María Huete Ortega (voc.), Lidia Yebra Mora (voc.)
• Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Oceanografía y Cambio Global por la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
• Materias:
  • Ciencias de la vida
    • Biología animal (zoología)
      • Fisiología animal
  • Ciencias de la tierra y del espacio
    • Ciencias del suelo
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: acceda
• Resumen

  • [EN] This thesis focuses on the zooplankton NH4+ regeneration that supports about the 80% of the phytoplankton requirements. In its more oceanographic facet, it elucidates the control that the mesozooplankton community exerts on the primary productivity in the northern Benguela, and models the N-fluxes from zooplankton NH4+ excretion. At the physiological level, it examines the relationship between the NH4+ excretion and its associated biochemistry. Assuming the substrate availability as the critical factor in regulating the velocity of NH4+ production, a bisubstrate model was developed to predict its actual rate in zooplankton. Overall, this research provides knowledge about the implications of zooplankton NH4+ excretion on the biogeochemical cycles, and introduces new insights into the study of this process from enzymatic measurements.