TABLE 5.

Average C:V, C:N, C:P, and N:P ratios and cell shape (± 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	C:V (fg μm−3)	C:N	C:P	N:P	Cell shape (width:length)
Exponential	1	11	77 ± 10	5.4 ± 0.3	29 ± 1	5.5 ± 0.3	0.64 ± 0.05
	2	12	52 ± 11	4.7 ± 0.4	29 ± 4	6.2 ± 0.6	0.59 ± 0.05
	3	15	209 ± 49	6.3 ± 0.5	50 ± 5	7.9 ± 0.5	0.72 ± 0.05
	4	11	241 ± 38	3.8 ± 0.3	26 ± 2	6.9 ± 0.4	0.51 ± 0.05
	Avg	49	148 ± 21	5.2 ± 0.2	35 ± 2	6.7 ± 0.3	0.62 ± 0.03
Stationary
C limitation	1	10	92 ± 7	3.9 ± 0.3	52 ± 6	14 ± 2	0.68 ± 0.03
	2	10	111 ± 14	4.1 ± 0.2	25 ± 1	6.1 ± 0.2	0.74 ± 0.03
	3	8	51 ± 4	3.6 ± 0.3	70 ± 3	21 ± 2	0.81 ± 0.04
	4	9	169 ± 15	3.6 ± 0.1	28 ± 1	7.9 ± 0.2	0.72 ± 0.05
	Avg	37	107 ± 10	3.8 ± 0.1	42 ± 3	12 ± 1	0.73 ± 0.02
N limitation	1	8	135 ± 38	4.9 ± 0.4	29 ± 2	6.2 ± 0.7	0.69 ± 0.06
	2	10	45 ± 3	11 ± 4	56 ± 8	6.6 ± 0.9	0.56 ± 0.04
	3	16	82 ± 7	6.5 ± 0.8	55 ± 8	8.7 ± 0.6	0.68 ± 0.03
	Avg	34	83 ± 11	7.5 ± 1.2	49 ± 5	7.5 ± 0.5	0.64 ± 0.02
P limitationa	2	11	44 ± 9	7.7 ± 1.1	180 ± 36	19 ± 5	0.75 ± 0.03
	3	8	33 ± 8	12 ± 1	176 ± 46	16 ± 4	0.74 ± 0.05
	Avg	19	39 ± 6	9.5 ± 1.0	178 ± 28	18 ± 3	0.75 ± 0.02

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