The adenylate energy charge in marine microplankton under different levels of pollution by oil products and the stages of seasonal succession

Fluctuations in adenylate energy charge (AEC) have been detected in the different size fractions of the marine microorganisms classified as microplankton sampled from four stations in Sevastopol Bay that opens into the Black Sea. The results revealed that AEC level depended on the water regime, the level of pollution by oil products in sediment and the stages of seasonal succession. It was found that the AEC index for the large-sized fractions of microplankton. which are basically represented by phytoplankton, underwent the most significant changes. The AEC level was lower in this fraction where there was pollution of the water by oil products and when the population was at the peak water bloom due to the mass development of algae. The smaller fraction of microplankton, the bacterioplankton, showed the most stable AEC at all four Sevastopol Bay stations as well as in the period when its concentration increased before the peak of water bloom. From these results, it is recommended that the level of the AEC, predominantly in the microfraction represented by the phytoplankton, be taken as a successful estimation of the degree of water pollution.