On the Culture of the Plankton Diatom Thalassiosira grauida Cleve, in Artificial Sea-water

Abstract

1. Attempts to obtain good cultures of Thalassiosira gravida in a purely artificial medium, made by dissolving in doubly distilled water Kahlbaum's pure chemicals in the proportions in which the salts occur in sea-water, adding nitrates, phosphates and iron according to Miquel's method and sterilizing the medium, have not succeeded.If, however, a small percentage of natural sea-water (less than 1 per cent will produce a result) be added to the artificial medium and the whole sterilized excellent cultures are obtained, which are often better than any which have been got when natural sea-water forms the foundation of the culture medium.The result appears to be due to some specific substance present in minute quantity in the natural sea-water which is essential to the vigorous growth of the diatoms. The nature of this substance it has not been possible to determine, but some evidence seems to suggest that it is a somewhat stable organic compound.Provided the 1 per cent of natural sea-water is added, the various constituents of the artificial sea-water forming the basis of the culture medium can be varied in amount within wide limits. The salinity of the medium can also be considerably altered without serious detriment to the cultures.The experiments recorded are of interest as furnishing another instance of the importance in food substances of minute traces of particular chemical compounds. They may also eventually throw light upon the nature of the conditions in the sea which are specially favourable to the production of plant life and therefore also of the animal life which that plant life sustains.