Effects of UV-A (320 to 399 Nanometers) on Grazing Pressure of a Marine Heterotrophic Nanoflagellate on Strains of the Unicellular Cyanobacteria Synechococcus spp.

In the open ocean, where turbidity is very low, UV radiation may be an important factor regulating interactions among planktonic microorganisms. The effect of exposure to UV radiation on grazing by a commonly isolated marine heterotrophic nanoflagellate, Paraphysomonas bandaiensis, on two strains of the cyanobacteria Synechococcus spp. was investigated. Laboratory cultures were exposed to a range of irradiances of artificially produced UV-B (290 to 319 nm) and UV-A (320 to 399 nm) for up to 10 h. At a UV-B irradiance of 0.19 W m(−2), but not 0.12 W m(−2), grazing mortality of Synechococcus spp. and nanoflagellate-specific grazing rates were reduced compared to mortality and grazing rates with UV-A treatment. Within 6 h of exposure, UV-A alone suppressed grazing mortality at irradiances as low as 3.02 W m(−2). The extent to which grazing mortality and nanoflagellate-specific grazing rates were suppressed by UV-A increased with both irradiance and duration of exposure. Over a 6-h exposure period, differences in grazing mortality were largely attributable to differential survival of nanoflagellates. Over a longer period of exposure, there was impairment by UV-A alone of nanoflagellate-specific grazing rates. Rates of primary productivity of Synechococcus spp. were also reduced by UV-A. The extent to which Synechococcus productivity was reduced, compared to the reduction in Synechococcus grazing mortality, depended on the duration of UV-A exposure. These results support the hypothesis that UV-A alone influences the composition and biomass of marine microbial communities by affecting predator-prey interactions and primary production.