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The dependence of denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) on different electron donors was tested in the nitrate-containing layer immediately below the oxic-anoxic interface (OAI) at three stations in the central anoxic basins of the Baltic Sea. Additionally, pathways and rates of fixed nitrogen transformation were investigated with 15N incubation techniques without addition of donors. Denitrification and anammox were always detected, but denitrification rates were higher than anammox rates. DNRA occurred at two sites and rates were two orders of magnitude lower than denitrification rates. Separate additions of dissolved organic carbon and sulfide stimulated rates without time lag indicating that both organotrophic and lithotrophic bacterial populations were simultaneously active and that they could carry out denitrification or DNRA. Manganese addition stimulated denitrification and DNRA at one station, but it is not clear whether this was due to a direct or indirect effect. Ammonium oxidation to nitrite was detected on one occasion. During denitrification, the production of nitrous oxide (N2O) was as important as dinitrogen (N2) production. A high ratio of N2O to N2 production at one site may be due to copper limitation, which inhibits the last denitrification step. These data demonstrate the coexistence of a range of oxidative and reductive nitrogen cycling processes at the Baltic OAI and suggest that the dominant electron donor supporting denitrification and DNRA is organic matter. Organotrophic denitrification is more important for nitrogen budgets than previously thought, but the large temporal variability in rates calls for long-term seasonal studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary production in the eutrophic Baltic Sea is limited by nitrogen availability; hence denitrification (natural transformation of nitrate to gaseous N) in the sediments is crucial in mitigating the effects of eutrophication. This study shows that dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) process, where nitrogen is not removed but instead recycled in the system, dominates nitrate reduction in low oxygen conditions (O <110 μM), which have been persistent in the central Gulf of Finland during the past decade. The nitrogen removal rates measured in this study show that nitrogen removal has decreased in the Gulf of Finland compared to rates measured in mid-1990s and the decrease is most likely caused by the increased bottom water hypoxia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In two experiments, the human pharmaceutical propranolol negatively affected the physiology of two test organisms, Fucus vesiculosus and Gammarus spp. from a Baltic Sea littoral community in a concentration of 1000 μg l−1. Some effects were also observed for the lower, more ecologically relevant concentrations (10 μg l−1 and 100 μg l−1). The effects on F. vesiculosus not only increased with increasing concentration, but also with exposure time; while the effects on Gammarus spp. were more inconsistent over time. No clear effects of the pharmaceuticals diclofenac and ibuprofen were observed for any of the organisms. Physiological parameters measured were GP:R-ratio, chlorophyll fluorescence and release of coloured dissolved organic matter, respiration and ammonium excretion. Pharmaceutical substances are repeatedly detected in the Baltic Sea which is the recipient for STP effluents from more than 85 million people living in the catchment area, but the knowledge of their effects on non-target organisms is still very limited. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Seasonal Baltic Sea ice is structurally similar to polar sea ice and provides habitats for diverse ice organism assemblages that are integral to the biogeochemistry and ecology of the sea during winter. Temperature and inorganic nitrogen sources have been suggested to control bacterial growth, with increasing dependence on ammonium at low temperatures. To study the bacterial growth and preference for the nitrogen source, we conducted experiments at 0 and 4°C, using ammonium and nitrate as nitrogen sources at two coastal fast-ice stations in the Gulf of Finland and in the Gulf of Bothnia during three successive winters. The two study sites differ markedly in relation to the allochthonous dissolved organic matter supply from the catchment area. High levels of bacterial growth were recorded at both study sites, with community generation times of 15-37 h. The measured bacterial growth efficiencies of 20-58% suggest that the Baltic sea ice brines provide a rich medium for bacterial growth and efficient functioning of bacteria-based food webs. Our experiments with sea ice samples showed a preference for ammonium at both temperatures and high potential growth in both types of nitrogen supplies. No major differences in phosphorus depletion rates were found at the two temperatures, but rates were always highest when ammonium was added to the experiments. These experiments point out that ice maturity, presumably through changes in bacterial community structure, impacts nitrogen processes and that these processes are pronounced prior to melting of the ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena dominates the annual, toxic summer blooms in the Baltic Sea. Although Nodularia has been receiving attention due to its production of the hepatotoxin nodularin, molecular data regarding the regulation of nitrogen fixation is lacking. We have previously reported that N. spumigena strain AV1, unlike model filamentous cyanobacteria, differentiates heterocysts in the absence of detectable nitrogen fixation activity. To further analyze the uncoupling between these two linked processes, we assessed the impact of ammonium ions on the N. spumigena metabolism using a proteomic approach. Proteomic profiling was performed at three different times during ammonium supplementation using quantitative 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by MS/MS analysis. Using this approach, we identified 34 proteins, 28 of which were unique proteins that changed successively in abundance during growth on ammonium. Our results indicate that N. spumigena generally exhibits lower energy production and carbon fixation in the presence of ammonium and seems to be inefficient in utilizing ammonium as an external nitrogen source. The possibility of ammonium toxicity due to PSII damage was investigated and the results are discussed. Our findings have implications in regard to the strategies considered to manage the cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The frequently observed, but commonly ignored hydrographic characteristic of the Baltic Sea, the oxygen minimum zone (OMiZ) above and within the summertime thermocline, was studied during the 6-yr monitoring programme encompassing the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland in the northern Baltic Sea. A temperature-anomaly-driven density gradient was found to be a prerequisite for the existence of the OMiZ. We determined the magnitude of the apparently utilized O2 in the OMiZ by combining graphical analysis and empirical modelling. A sound criterion for distinguishing the cases in which the OMiZ had a biological origin, and not only a hydrodynamic one, was the accompanying ammonium maximum zone (AMaZ). Of a total of 46 stations visited, a density gradient was found at every station, an accompanying OMiZ at 37 stations, and an accompanying AMaZ at 20 stations. This suggests that biological activity is an essential factor in forming the OMiZ. We investigated to what extent the OMiZ was a manifestation of microbial decomposition of autochthonous organic matter, as zooplankton respiration was also a factor. As a study average, ~80% of the apparently utilized O2 was consumed by the microbial decomposition process and ~20% of it by mesozooplankton respiration. According to the O2 quota consumed in the process, the microbial community in the OMiZ of the Gulf of Finland decomposed, on average, 14% of all the organic matter settling from the euphotic zone in the time frame of mid-June to early August. A pronounced allochthonous organic carbon pool in the Gulf of Bothnia hinders a prompt estimation of a corresponding share for that basin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea are a common phenomenon and are formed by the heterocystous, filamentous species Nodularia spumigena. The toxicity of these blooms is attributed to the hepatotoxin nodularin, produced by N. spumigena. Little is known regarding the regulatory mechanisms or environmental signaling that control nodularin production. Here we report the characterization of the transcriptional expression pattern of the nodularin synthetase gene cluster ( nda) during phosphate depletion, and nitrogen supplementation. Real-time PCR analysis of these genes revealed that while cells continuously expressed the nda cluster, the expression of all nda genes increased when cells were subjected to phosphate depletion, and decreased in the presence of ammonium. In contrast to the shifts in expression, the intracellular and extracellular nodularin concentrations did not vary significantly during the treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The release of ammonium from the photochemical degradation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) has been proposed by earlier studies as a potentially important remineralisation pathway for refractory organic nitrogen. In this study the photochemical production of ammonium from Baltic Sea DOM was assessed in the laboratory. Filtered samples from the Bothnian Bay, the Gulf of Finland and the Arkona Sea were exposed to UVA light at environmentally relevant levels, and the developments in ammonium concentrations, light absorption, fluorescence and molecular size distribution were followed. The exposures resulted in a decrease in DOM absorption and loss of the larger sized fraction of DOM. Analysis of the fluorescence properties of DOM using parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) identified 6 independent components. Five components decreased in intensity as a result of the UVA exposures. One component was produced as a result of the exposures and represents labile photoproducts derived from terrestrial DOM. The characteristics of DOM in samples from the Bothnian Bay and Gulf of Finland were similar and dominated by terrestrially derived material. The DOM from the Arkona Sea was more autochthonous in character. Photoammonification differed depending on the composition of DOM. Calculated photoammonification rates in surface waters varied between 121 and 382 μmol NH4 + L−1 d−1. Estimated areal daily production rates ranged between 37 and 237 μmol NH4 + m−2 d−1, which are comparable to atmospheric deposition rates and suggest that photochemical remineralisation of organic nitrogen may be a significant source of bioavailable nitrogen to surface waters during summer months with high irradiance and low inorganic nitrogen concentrations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Solar-radiation-induced photochemistry can be considered as a new source of nutrients when photochemical reactions release bioavailable nitrogen from biologically nonreactive dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Pretreatments of Baltic Sea waters in the dark indicated that >72% of DON was recalcitrant to biological mineralization. When this DON (16-21.5 μM) was exposed to simulated solar radiation, the concentration of NH4+ increased 0.5-2.5 μM more in irradiated waters than in the dark controls. The photochemical production of NH4+ and the dose of absorbed photons were used to calculate the apparent quantum yield spectrum for photoammonification [mol NH4+ (mol photons)-1 nm-1] at wavelengths (λ) of 290-700 nm (ɸNH4,λ). The modeled mean rates of photoammonification based on ɸNH4,λ were 143 and 53 μmol NH4+ m-2 d-1 at the surface and in the whole water column, respectively, of Baltic Sea stations during summer. The results of this study indicate that the rate of photoammonification approximately equals and periodically exceeds the rate of atmospheric deposition of reactive inorganic nitrogen to the northern Baltic Sea. For these stratified surface waters beyond riverine input of labile nitrogen, photoammonification can periodically be the largest source of new bioavailable nitrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that identified the responses of coastal summer plankton communities to nutrient enrichment in the northern Baltic Sea. Design of the three-dimensional nutrient enrichment experiments; Predominant algal species and total algal biomass by treatment; Chlorophyll a-specific depletion rates of ammonium and phosphate.