Results of a 24-hour laboratory experiment sampling cell concentrations, particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) and further cell parameters of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi grown under a 16:8 h light/dark cycle

Cell division of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi and other phytoplankton typically becomes entrained to diel light/dark cycles under laboratory conditions, with division occurring primarily during dark phases and production occurring during light phases. Under these conditions, the increase in a culture's cell and biomass concentrations deviates from an exponential function on time scales < 24 h. We here present a dataset of short-term changes in cell and biomass concentrations of fast dividing, dilute-batch cultures of E. huxleyi grown under a 16:8 h light/dark cycle. This dataset was used to derive linear models describing the diel course in the concentrations of cells, particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) and for the calculation of daily means of cellular quotas and production rates in Kottmeier et al. (2020). We also present the given seawater carbonate chemistry as well as cellular quotas of particulate organic nitrogen (PON) and chlorophyll a (Chl. a), and the ratios of PIC:POC, POC:PON, POC:cell volume and Chl. a:POC in the course of the 24 h sampling period