FLUORESCENCE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE EXTRACELLULAR ORGANIC MATTER (EOM) RELEASED BY THE MARINE DIATOM CHAETOCEROS SP.

Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to characterize the extracellular organic matter (EOM) released by laboratory cultures of the marine diatom Chaetoceros. The accumulation trend of the mixture of chromatophoric compounds into the extracellular medium, as measured on stationary growing cultures, provided a natural system of sample pre-concentration, which revealed just effective for a complete EOM characterization by fluorescence analysis over a wide wavelength range.