Characterization of human monocyte activation by a water soluble preparation of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae.

Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA) is a fresh-water microalgae that is consumed as a nutrient-dense food source and for its health-enhancing properties. The current research characterizes the effect of a water soluble preparation from AFA on human monocyte/macrophage function and compares the effect of AFA with responses from known agents that modulate the immune system. At 0.5 μg/ml the AFA extract robustly activated nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) directed luciferase expression in THP-1 human monocytic cells to levels at 50% of those achieved by maximal concentrations (10 μg/ml) of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In addition, the AFA extract substantially increased mRNA levels of interleukin-1β(IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-(TNF-), and enhanced the DNA binding activity of NF-kappa B. The effects of AFA water soluble preparation were similar to the responses displayed by LPS, but clearly different from responses exhibited by tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA) and interferon-gamma (INF-γ). Pretreatment of THP-1 monocytes with factors known to induce hyporesponsiveness suppressed both AFA-dependent and LPS-dependent activation. These results suggest that the macrophage-activating properties of the AFA water soluble preparation are mediated through pathways that are similar to LPS-dependent activation.     

KINETICS OF GROWTH AND DEATH IN ANABAENA FLOS-AQUAE (CYANOBACTERIA) UNDER LIGHT LIMITATION AND SUPERSATURATION

The kinetics of population growth and death were investigated in Anabaena flos-aquae (Lyngb.) Bréb grown at light intensities ranging from limitation to photoinhibition (5 W·m⁻² to 160 W·m⁻²) in a nutrient-replete turbidostat. Steady-state growth rate (μ, or dilution rate, D) increased with light intensity from 0.44·day⁻¹ at a light intensity of 5 W·m⁻² to 0.99·day⁻¹ at 20 W·m⁻² and started to decrease above about 22 W·m⁻², reaching 0.56·day⁻¹ at 160 W·m⁻². The Haldane function of enzyme inhibition fit the growth data poorly, largely because of the unusually narrow range of saturation intensity. However, it produced a good fit (P < 0.001) for growth under photoinhibition. Anabaena flos-aquae died at different specific death rates (γ) below and above the saturation intensity. When calculated as the slope of a v_x⁻¹ and D⁻¹ plot, where v_x and D are cell viability (or live cell fraction) and dilution rate, respectively; γ was 0.047·day⁻¹ in the range of light limitation and 0.103·day⁻¹ under photoinhibition. Live vegetative cells and heterocysts, either in numbers or as a percentage of the total cells, showed a peak at the saturation intensity and decreased at lower and higher intensities. The ratio of live heterocysts to live vegetative cells increased with intensity when light was limiting but decreased when light was supersaturating. In cells growing at the same growth rate, the ratio was significantly lower under light inhibition than under subsaturation and the cell N:C ratio was also lower under inhibition. The steady-state rate of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) production increased with light intensity. However, its production as a percentage of the total C fixation was lowest at the optimum intensity and increased as the irradiance decreased or increased. The rate and percentage was significantly higher under photoinhibition than limitation in cells growing at the same growth rate. About 22% of the total fixed carbon was released as DOC at the highest light intensity. No correlation was found between the number of dead cells and DOC.     

Consumption of cyanobacteria by roach (Rutilus rutilus): useful or harmful to the fish?

1. The ability of roach to use cyanobacterial food is generally believed to be one reason for the dominance of roach over perch in eutrophic European lakes. The aim of this study was to test whether cyanobacteria really are a suitable food for juvenile roach. Special attention was paid to differences between the two cyanobacteria species Aphanizomenon and Microcystis which are common in eutrophic lakes and are ingested by roach there.
2. We performed growth and behaviour experiments with juvenile roach fed with zooplankton and the different cyanobacteria. Growth rate with Aphanizomenon was lower than with Daphnia but significantly higher than without food, whereas growth rate with Microcystis was as low as without food.
3. In cultivation experiments of roach faeces, Microcystis was found not to have been digested and grew exponentially after passing through the gut whereas Aphanizomenon stayed at low biomass. Differences in growth were not related to the toxin content of cyanobacteria. Investigations of roach motility showed no differences whether fed with Aphanizomenon or Microcystis .
4. In contrast to Microcystis , Aphanizomenon can be regarded as a suitable food source for juvenile roach probably because of its better digestability. We conclude that the ability to feed on cyanobacteria is not a general competitive advantage for roach, but the outcome depends on the species composition of the cyanobacteria.     

紊流扰动对水华鱼腥藻细胞生理的影响

正三峡水库成库以来,支流回水区频繁出现水华现象,成为近10年来我国水库生态学领域研究热点~([1])。水流条件是水华形成的主要诱导因素之一~([2]),合适的流速条件能给藻类生长营造有利的外部环境~([3])。温度、光照和营养盐是影响藻类生长的重要环境因子,在自然水体中随着深度的变化而变化~([4])。普遍认为,紊流扰动通过改变藻类在水体中的相对位置和分布,从而改变藻类生长的     

三种淡水藻类对萼花臂尾轮虫培养效果的比较

在28℃下,采用群体累积培养法,探讨了不同浓度的蛋白核小球藻（Chlorella pyrenodeosa）、水华鱼腥藻（Anabaena flas-aquae）和沙角衣藻（Chlamyclomoras sajao）,以及在等生物量条件下,以上3种藻类两两配比饵料（3：1、1：1和1：3）对萼花臂尾轮虫（Brachionus calyciflorus）的培养效果。结果表明,不同浓度的蛋白核小球藻、水华鱼腥藻和沙角衣藻对萼花臂尾轮虫增殖效果的影响分别表现为差异极显著（P〈0．01）、显著（P〈0．05）和不显著（P〉0．05）;蛋白核小球藻与水华鱼腥藻组成的混合饵料对萼花臂尾轮虫的增殖效果均优于其中的单一种类（P〈0．05）;沙角衣藻无论是单独投喂,还是与其它藻类混合投喂,轮虫的培养效果均不理想。因此,该种类不宜用作轮虫饵料开发。该研究还表明,蛋白核小球藻是培养萼花臂尾轮虫的最适单一种类,它与水华鱼腥藻组成的混合饵料培养萼花臂尾轮虫效果更好。     

中国淡水水体常见束丝藻种类的形态及生理特性研究

束丝藻(Aphanizomenon Morr. ex Born. et Flah)是我国水华蓝藻的重要种类, 由其产生的束丝藻水华已经引起了许多的环境问题。水华束丝藻、柔细束丝藻和依沙束丝藻是我国淡水水体常见的三种束丝藻种类,然而, 国内外对它们的生理学研究却相对较少。基此, 文章对水华束丝藻、柔细束丝藻和依沙束丝藻的形态特性、色素含量、生长及光合作用进行了比较研究, 结果表明丝状体的营养细胞、异形胞和厚壁孢子的长宽比具有一定的差异性, 揭示了厚壁孢子的长宽比可作为三种束丝藻分类的一个参数; 同时, 种间的差异性也体现在三种束丝藻的生理特性上, 相比水华束丝藻和依沙束丝藻, 柔细束丝藻的藻蓝素含量较高, 而叶绿素a、类胡萝卜素含量、最大光合作用(Pm)、表观光合作用效率(α)和最大电子传递速率(ETRmax)显著偏低。此外, 水华束丝藻和依沙束丝藻生理特性基本一致, 表明了形态不同的三种束丝藻在生理上可被分为两种类型, 暗示了依沙束丝藻可能具有像水华束丝藻一样形成水华的生理潜能且由于它的产毒性所以应该倍加关注       

PROPERTIES OF MICROCYSTIS AERUGINOSA AND M. FLOS-AQUAE (CYANOPHYTA) IN CULTURE: TAXONOMIC IMPLICATIONS1

Cultures were cloned from a sample containing Microcystis aeruginosa, M. flos-aquae and a few morphological intermediates. The M. aeruginosa cultures remained distinct from the M. flos-aquae cultures in (a) cell size, (b) cell aggregation pattern, (c) width of the mucilage surrounding the multicellular colonies, (d) sharpness of the mucilage boundary, (e) efect of 0.1–1.0 μM calcium chloride on the disaggregation of multicellular colonies, (f) frequency of mucilage mutants and (g) colony morphology on agar media. No M. flos-aquae culture produced morphs resembling M. aeruginosa, inconsistent with proposals that M. flos-aquae is a developmental stage or environmentally-induced variant of M. aeruginosa. After longterm cultivation, but not soon after origanal isolation, several M. aeruginosa cultures contained mutants with diminished mucilage production and an altered colony shape.     

CARBON AVAILABILITY AND THE PATTERN OF CYANOBACTERIAL DOMINANCE IN ENRICHED LOW-CARBON LAKES1

We hypothesize that the pattern of cyanobacterial dominance in experimentally enriched, low-carbon lakes is related not only to the resultant N:P ratio but also to the availability of carbon for gas-vesicle synthesis. We tested this hypothesis by determining the buoyancy responses of a highly gas-vacuolate, N₂-fixing cyanobacterium to P enrichment with and without induced C limitation. Enrichment of samples of Aphanizomenon schindleri (Kling et al. 1994) from blooms in Lake 227 with combinations of C, N, and P produced rapid buoyancy reductions in P treatments, reductions that were reversed within a generation time in treatments that included C or C and N as well as P. These responses are the first of their kind to be observed in experiments with lake populations of cyano-bacteria. The rapid buoyancy reductions were associated with polyphosphate accumulations in P-treated A. schindleri. Differences in buoyancy status after one generation time were linked to differences in relative gas vacuolation between samples treated with P only and samples treated with C and N as well as P. These results may explain the relative success of different types of cyanobacteria in newly enriched, low-carbon lakes. The availability of C for gasvesicle synthesis may determine whether a low N:P ratio induces N₂ fixation by benthic or by planktonic cyanobacteria and whether a high NP ratio leads to dominance by non-gas-vacuolate or by highly gas-vacuolate, non-N₂-fixers.