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Copper (Cu) is an essential micronutrient for marine phytoplankton, but can cause toxicity at elevated intracellular concentrations. The majority of Cu (> 99.9%) in oceanic surface waters is bound to strong organic ligands, presumably produced by prokaryotes to detoxify Cu. Although laboratory studies have demonstrated that organically complexed Cu may be bioavailable to marine eukaryotic phytoplankton, the bioavailability of Cu organic complexes to indigenous marine phytoplankton has not been examined in detail. Using the carrier free radioisotope 67Cu at an iron limited station in the northeast subarctic Pacific Ocean, scientists performed size fractionated short-term Cu uptake assays with three Cu(II)-chelates, and 67Cu bound to the strong in situ ligands, with or without additions of weak Cu(I) ligands. [Source: Marine Chemistry]
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