Phosphatase activities in relation to phosphorus nutrition in Nodularia spumigena (Cyanobacteriaceae)

Alkaline phosphatase activities were examined in blooms of Nodularia spumigena Mertens in the Peel-Harvey estuarine system, Western Australia. Variations in phosphatase activity occurred geographically and diurnally, as well as over the duration of a bloom. These variations were well correlated with differences in the phosphorus nutritional status of the Nodularia. In the laboratory, Nodularia phosphatase production was inversely proportional to cellular phosphorus, but not to external soluble reactive phosphorus.