Phytoplankton {RNA}/{DNA} and 18S {rRNA}/{rDNA} ratios in a coastal marine ecosystem

The RNA/DNA ratio is used as indicator of growth in various marine organisms and to assess physiological status at species or community level. To evaluate the utility of the RNA/DNA ratio as a proxy of phytoplankton primary production, the relationships between phytoplankton RNA/DNA, taxon-specific diatom and dinoflagellate 18S rRNA/rDNA ratios and autotrophic phytoplankton biomass were investigated as a first step. Significant correlations between all phytoplankton ratios and total phytoplankton, diatom and dinoflagellate biomass as chlorophylla(chl a) and carbon content were found. Diatoms showed higher correlation than dinoflagellates (18S rRNA/rDNA vs. chl a, r s=0.74 and 0.64,P<0.001; 18S rRNA/rDNA vs. carbon,r s=0.66 and 0.53,P<0.001, respectively), because they represented the most abundant and frequent group within sampled assemblages. Further, phytoplankton biomass production is known to be linked to protein biosynthesis and significant relationships between RNA/DNA ratios and protein content of phytoplankton assemblage were found (r s=0.62 and 0.52,P<0.001 for diatom and dinoflagellates, respectively). As taxon-specific RNA/DNA ratios were correlated with biomass and protein content, our results can be regarded as the first step toward further studies on the applicability of RNA/DNA ratios as indicators of growth rate and primary production in phytoplankton assemblages