基于碳氮稳定同位素技术研究辽东湾海蜇的食性和营养级

应用稳定同位素技术分析了渤海辽东湾海蜇及其可能摄食饵料生物的碳、氮稳定同位素比值,对其食物组成和营养级进行了研究.结果表明： 辽东湾海蜇的δ¹³C值范围是-20.27‰～-23.06‰,跨度为2.79‰,平均值为-21.33‰;δ¹⁵N值范围是6.82‰～10.03‰,跨度为3.21‰,平均值为8.25‰.海蜇的饵料生物主要包括悬浮物、浮游植物、鱼卵、≤1000 μm 浮游动物、1000～1500 μm 浮游动物和＞1500 μm 浮游动物,其中以≤1000 μm 浮游动物为主,贡献率高达71%～88%;其他饵料生物的重要性由高到低依次为>1500 μm浮游动物、1000～1500 μm浮游动物、悬浮物、浮游植物和鱼卵,其平均贡献率分别为6%～19%、0%～22%、0%～10%、0%～8%、0%～2%.经检验发现,海蜇伞径长与δ¹⁵N的相关性不显著(P >0.05),而与δ¹³C呈显著负相关(P<0.05).以悬浮物为基准的辽东湾不同伞径组海蜇的营养级范围为2.79～3.88,平均营养级为3.28.本研究结果说明,海蜇作为大型浮游动物在辽东湾生态系统中对小型浮游动物的能量传递起着关键的调控作用,研究结果将为深入研究辽东湾生物群落的营养结构及整个生态系统的物质循环与能量流动提供基础资料.     

Low ratios of silica to dissolved nitrogen supplied to rivers arise from agriculture not reservoirs

Coastal marine systems are greatly altered by toxic marine algae, eutrophication and hypoxia. These problems have been linked to decreased ratios of dissolved silica to inorganic nitrogen (Si : DIN) delivered from land. Two mechanisms for this decline under consideration are enhanced nitrogen (N) fertiliser losses from agricultural lands or Si sequestration in reservoirs. Here we examine these mechanisms via nutrient concentrations in impoundments receiving water from 130 watersheds in a landscape representative of the agriculture that often dominates coastal nutrient inputs. Decreased Si : DIN was correlated with agriculture, not impoundment. Watersheds with > 60% agricultural land yielded highest DIN, whereas Si was uncorrelated with agricultural intensity. Furthermore, eutrophic lakes were dominated by Cyanobacteria that use little Si, so reservoirs did not diminish Si : DIN. Instead, Si : DIN increased slightly as reservoir residence time increased. These data suggest that impoundments in agricultural watersheds may enhance the water quality of coastal ecosystems, whereas fertiliser losses are detrimental.     

Health impacts from cyanobacteria harmful algae blooms: Implications for the North American Great Lakes

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms (cHABs) have significant socioeconomic and ecological costs, which impact drinking water, fisheries, agriculture, tourism, real estate, water quality, food web resilience and habitats, and contribute to anoxia and fish kills. Many of these costs are well described, but in fact are largely unmeasured. Worldwide cHABs can produce toxins (cyanotoxins), which cause acute or chronic health effects in mammals (including humans) and other organisms. There are few attempts to characterize the full health-related effects other than acute incidences, which may go unrecorded. At present these are difficult to access and evaluate and may be ascribed to other causes. Such information is fundamental to measure the full costs of cHABs and inform the need for often-costly management and remediation. This paper synthesizes information on cHABs occurrence, toxicology and health effects, and relates this to past and current conditions in the Great Lakes, a major global resource which supplies 84% of the surface water in North America. This geographic region has seen a significant resurgence of cHABs since the 1980s. In particular we focus on Lake Erie, where increased reporting of cHABs has occurred from the early 1990's. We evaluate available information and case reports of cHAB-related illness and death and show that cHABs occur throughout the basin, with reports of animal illness and death, especially dogs and livestock. Lake Erie has consistently experienced cHABs and cyanotoxins in the last decade with probable cases of human illness, while the other Great Lakes show intermittent cHABs and toxins, but no confirmed reports on illness or toxicity. The dominant toxigenic cyanobacterium is the genus Microcystis known to produce microcystins. The presence of other cyanotoxins (anatoxin-a, paralytic shellfish toxins) implicates other toxigenic cyanobacteria such as Anabaena (Dolichospermum) and Lyngbya.     

Dilution bioassays: Their application to assessments of nutrient limitation in

Hypereutrophic waters, which are characterized by nutrient inputs exceeding phytoplankton nutrient requirements, are often sites of chronic nuisance algal blooms and associated water quality deterioration problems. In order to restore such systems to acceptable water quality standards, identification of growth-limiting nutrients is of central importance. Conventional nutrient addition bioassay techniques are often ineffective in identifying potentially limiting nutrients, due to persistent nutrient excesses in hypereutrophic systems. Accordingly, we have developed a nutrient dilution bioassay, in which stepwise dilutions of phytoplankton nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, trace metals) with a nutrient-free major ion solution are capable of; 1) identifying those nutrients potentially most limiting, and 2) establishing magnitudes of respective nutrient input cutbacks required to bring about nutrient-limited control of phytoplankton growth. In situ deployment of dilution bioassays should help establish criteria governing minimal nutrient inputs required to arrest undesirable impacts of hypereutrophy. We have evaluated the field applicability of dilution bioassays, during a 2 year trial in the periodically hypereutrophic Neuse River, North Carolina.     

Rhopalium development in Aurelia aurita ephyrae

Rhopalia of developing ephyrae were examined using the SEM and TEM at 24 h intervals following strobilation induction. Kinocilia are shorter in the ephyra stage than in polyps. A few ephyra-type kinocilia are found in rhopalia as early as 24 h after induction, before a distinct rhopalium is seen. By 72 h, the shorter kinocilia predominate and are almost as numerous as in ephyrae (120 h). Many of the kinocilia are associated with mechanoreceptor cells (MR) found in the rhopalia. These MR cells are compared to those reported for medusae. Although newly released ephyrae lack a touch plate, the MR cells in their rhopalia along with the statocyst and neuromuscular system apparently enable these organisms to detect and respond to gravity.     

Communities advancing the studies of Tribal nations across their lifespan: Design,methods, and baseline of the CoASTAL cohort

The CoASTAL cohort represents the first community cohort assembled to study a HAB-related illness. It is comprised of three Native American tribes in the Pacific NW for the purpose of studying the health impacts of chronic, low level domoic acid (DA) exposure through razor clam consumption. This cohort is at risk of DA toxicity by virtue of their geographic location (access to beaches with a history of elevated DA levels in razor clams) and the cultural and traditional significance of razor clams in their diet. In this prospective, longitudinal study, Wave 1 of the cohort was comprised of 678 members across the human lifespan, with both sexes represented within child, adult, and geriatric age groups. All participants were followed annually with standard measures of medical and social history; neuropsychological functions, psychological status, and dietary exposure. DA concentrations were measured at both public and reservation beaches where razor clams are acquired. Multiple metrics were piloted to further determine exposure. Baseline data indicated that all cognitive and psychological functions were within normal limits. In addition, there was considerable variability in razor clam exposure. Therefore, the CoASTAL cohort offers a unique opportunity to investigate the potential health effects of chronic, low level exposure to DA over time.     

Assessment of sodium channel mutations in Makah tribal members of the U.S. Pacific Northwest as a potential mechanism of resistance to paralytic shellfish poisoning

The Makah Tribe of Neah Bay, Washington, has historically relied on the subsistence harvest of coastal seafood, including shellfish, which remains an important cultural and ceremonial resource. Tribal legend describes visitors from other tribes that died from eating shellfish collected on Makah lands. These deaths were believed to be caused by paralytic shellfish poisoning, a human illness caused by ingestion of shellfish contaminated with saxitoxins, which are produced by toxin-producing marine dinoflagellates on which the shellfish feed. These paralytic shellfish toxins include saxitoxin, a potent Na⁺ channel antagonist that binds to the pore region of voltage gated Na⁺ channels. Amino acid mutations in the Na⁺ channel pore have been demonstrated to confer resistance to saxitoxin in softshell clam populations exposed to paralytic shellfish toxins present in their environment. Because of the notion of resistance to paralytic shellfish toxins, the study aimed to determine if a resistance strategy was possible in humans with historical exposure to toxins in shellfish. We collected, extracted and purified DNA from buccal swabs of 83 volunteer Makah tribal members and sequenced the skeletal muscle Na⁺ channel (Nav1.4) at nine loci to characterize potential mutations in the relevant saxitoxin binding regions. No mutations of these specific regions were identified after comparison to a reference sequence. This study suggests that any resistance of Makah tribal members to saxitoxin, if present, is not a function of Nav1.4 modification, but may be due to mutations in neuronal or cardiac sodium channels, or some other mechanism unrelated to sodium channel function.     

Microbial community interactions and population dynamics of an algicidal bacterium active against Karenia brevis (Dinophyceae)

The population dynamics of Cytophaga strain 41-DBG2, a bacterium algicidal to the harmful algal bloom (HAB) dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, were investigated in laboratory experiments using fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Following its introduction into non-axenic K. brevis cultures at concentrations of 10³ or 10⁵ bacterial cells per milliliter, 41-DBG2 increased to 10⁶ cells per milliliter before initiation of its algicidal activity. Such threshold concentrations were not achieved when starting algal cell numbers were relatively low (10³ cells per milliliter), suggesting that the growth of this bacterium may require high levels of dissolved organic matter (DOM) excreted by the algae. It remains to be determined whether this threshold concentration is required to trigger an algicidal response by 41-DBG2 or, alternatively, is the point at which the bacterium accumulates to an effective killing concentration. The ambient microbial community associated with these algal cultures, as determined by DGGE profiles, did not change until after K. brevis cells were in the process of lysing, indicating a response to the rapid input of algal-derived organic matter. Resistance to algicidal attack exhibited by several K. brevis clones was found to result from the inhibition of 41-DBG2 growth in the presence of currently unculturable bacteria associated with those clones. These bacteria apparently prevented 41-DBG2 from reaching the threshold concentration required for initiation of algicidal activity. Remarkably, resistance and susceptibility to the algicidal activity of 41-DBG2 could be transferred between K. brevis clones with the exchange of their respective unattached bacterial communities, which included several dominant phylotypes belonging to the α-proteobacteria, γ-proteobacteria, and Cytophaga–Flavobacterium–Bacteroides (CFB) groups. We hypothesize that CFB bacteria may be successfully competing with 41-DBG2 (also a member of the CFB) for nutrients, thereby inhibiting growth of the latter and indirectly providing resistance against algicidal attack. We conclude that if algicidal bacteria play a significant role in regulating HAB dynamics, as some authors have inferred, bacterial community interactions are crucial factors that must be taken into consideration in future studies.