The emergence of automated high-frequency flow cytometry: revealing temporal and spatial phytoplankton variability

Phytoplankton observation is the product of a number of trade-offs related to sampling processes, required level of diversity and size spectrum analysis capabilities of the techniques involved. Instruments combining the morphological and high-frequency analysis for phytoplankton cells are now availa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of plankton research 2008-03, Vol.30 (3), p.333-343
Main Authors: Thyssen, Melilotus, Tarran, Glen A., Zubkov, Mikhail V., Holland, Ross J., Grégori, Gérald, Burkill, Peter H., Denis, Michel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Cells
Flow cytometry
Frequency
Frequency analysis
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Instruments
Marine
Ocean, Atmosphere
Phytoplankton
Resolution
Sampling
Sciences of the Universe
Synecology
Temporal variations
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Phytoplankton observation is the product of a number of trade-offs related to sampling processes, required level of diversity and size spectrum analysis capabilities of the techniques involved. Instruments combining the morphological and high-frequency analysis for phytoplankton cells are now available. This paper presents an application of the automated high-resolution flow cytometer Cytosub as a tool for analysing phytoplanktonic cells in their natural environment. High resolution data from a temporal study in the Bay of Marseille (analysis every 30 min over 1 month) and a spatial study in the Southern Indian Ocean (analysis every 5 min at 10 knots over 5 days) are presented to illustrate the capabilities and limitations of the instrument. Automated high-frequency flow cytometry revealed the spatial and temporal variability of phytoplankton in the size range 1−∼50 μm that could not be resolved otherwise. Due to some limitations (instrumental memory, volume analysed per sample), recorded counts could be statistically too low. By combining high-frequency consecutive samples, it is possible to decrease the counting error, following Poisson’s law, and to retain the main features of phytoplankton variability. With this technique, the analysis of phytoplankton variability combines adequate sampling frequency and effective monitoring of community changes.
ISSN:0142-7873
1464-3774
DOI:10.1093/plankt/fbn005