TABLE 3.

Average dry weight, carbon content, nitrogen content, phosphorus content, and cell volume ± standard error of cells that are growing exponentially or growth limited by organic carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus

Growth phase	Isolate no.	No. of cells analyzed	Dry wt (fg cell−1)	Carbon (fg cell−1)	Nitrogen (fg cell−1)	Phosphorus (fg cell−1)	Vol (μm3)
Exponential	1	11	391 ± 40	153 ± 17	33 ± 4	13 ± 1	2.17 ± 0.24
	2	12	322 ± 36	128 ± 17	32 ± 4	13 ± 2	3.00 ± 0.33
	3	15	481 ± 36	156 ± 15	30 ± 3	8.5 ± 0.8	1.23 ± 0.22
	4	11	512 ± 49	160 ± 18	48 ± 4	16 ± 1	0.81 ± 0.10
	Avg	49	429 ± 22	149 ± 8	35 ± 2	12 ± 1	1.78 ± 0.17
Stationary
C limitation	1	10	101 ± 11	32 ± 4	9.7 ± 1.1	1.8 ± 0.2	0.35 ± 0.03
	2	10	76 ± 6	33 ± 3	9.8 ± 0.9	3.5 ± 0.3	0.33 ± 0.04
	3	8	147 ± 22	44 ± 8	14 ± 2	1.4 ± 0.2	0.91 ± 0.19
	4	9	114 ± 14	50 ± 7	16 ± 2	4.4 ± 0.4	0.28 ± 0.02
	Avg	37	107 ± 9	39 ± 3	12 ± 1	2.8 ± 0.2	0.45 ± 0.06
N limitation	1	8	310 ± 25	90 ± 14	21 ± 2	8.3 ± 1.3	0.85 ± 0.16
	2	10	207 ± 13	88 ± 9	14 ± 2	4.7 ± 0.6	1.99 ± 0.18
	3	16	312 ± 18	96 ± 8	20 ± 2	5.1 ± 1.6	1.31 ± 0.15
	Avg	34	281 ± 13	92 ± 5	18 ± 1	5.7 ± 0.4	1.40 ± 0.12
P limitationa	2	11	268 ± 56	105 ± 33	13 ± 4	2.2 ± 0.6	1.70 ± 0.43
	3	8	272 ± 65	106 ± 30	11 ± 3	2.3 ± 1.1	3.31 ± 0.56
	Avg	19	269 ± 41	106 ± 23	12 ± 2	2.3 ± 0.6	2.38 ± 0.38

^aCells that had a P content below the detection limit were omitted from the calculation of P content (n = 8).