In the vials with faecal pellets, these blank values represented between 22 and 50% of the total carbon demand. Once the FP carbon demand is withdrawn, this represents an increase of the chl a max microbial carbon demand
by a factor of 1.8 to 8, and an increase of the 90 m microbial carbon demand by a factor of 1.1 to 5. When incubated in 0.2 μm FSW, the FP-CSD was 2.0% d− 1 for in situ pellets and 5.9% d− 1 for culture pellets ( Figure 2). We interpret this FP-CSD as the respiratory result of bacteria from the faecal pellet matrix. Both treatments – water type and faecal pellet origin – had significant effects on the FP-CSD, although their interaction did not have a significant effect (two-way ANOVA, water type F2.23 = 8.783, p < 0.05, chl a max significantly LBH589 higher than FSW and 90 m, LSD post-hoc PF-02341066 purchase both p < 0.05, no difference between FSW and 90, p = 0.966; faecal pellet origin F1.23 = 10.030, p < 0.05, culture significantly higher, LSD post-hoc test
p < 0.05, Table 1). For both pellet types, FP-CSDs in water from the chl a max were significantly higher than in 0.2 μm FSW or 90 m water (one-way ANOVA, LSD post-hoc test all p < 0.05, Figure 2). Since the FP-CSD in 0.2 μm FSW is due to the activities from the bacteria of the faecal pellet matrix, the difference between chl a max FP-CSD and FSW FP-CSD provides information on the FP-CSD due to the free-living bacteria and protozooplankton, which represents about 40% and 70% of the total FP-CSD from the culture and in situ faecal pellets
respectively. FP-CSD of the culture pellets were statistically higher than for the in situ pellets when incubated in FSW and 90 m (factors of 2.3 and 2.6 respectively, one-way ANOVA p < 0.05 for both, Figure 2), and had a tendency to be higher for chl a max, though not significantly ( Figure 2). Although previous studies have diglyceride used microbial volumes of bacteria and protozooplankton for assessing their carbon demand (i.e. Shinada et al. 2001), in the present study at the same temperature, the same microbial community (chl a max or 90 m) increased its carbon demand by a factor up to 8 in the presence of 30 faecal pellets in the 5 ml vials. In natural conditions, it is unlikely that 30 faecal pellets may occur at the same time in such a small volume; however, it is important to consider that respiration and carbon demand depend on the available carbon sources, and in particular the presence of faecal pellets.