Studies on the primary production of the river Shatt Al-Arab at Basrah,Iraq

The study was conducted on the Shatt Al-Arab River at Basrah, Iraq from September 1976 to August 1977 at three stations located at the upstream, middle and lowest parts of Basrah city. There was a bimodal seasonal variation of chlorophyll-a, the concentration of which ranged between 0.52–3.25 mg/m³. The gross primary production ranged between 6.03–37.02 mgC/m³/hr and showed a unimodal seasonal variation with a maximum in August. From the concentration of chlorophyll-a and from measurement of primary productivity it was clear that the section of the river at the upstream end of Basrah city was poorest and that at the middle of the Basrah city below Ashar Channel was the richest. A positive corelation between primary productivity and chlorophyll-a.     

Color inheritance, pigment characterization, and growth of a rare light green strain of Gracilaria birdiae (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta)

Gracilaria birdiae Plastino et E.C. Oliveira is an economically important marine red alga exploited for the production of agar in Brazil. A rare light green strain of G. birdiae was found in a natural population, which raised new questions regarding intraspecific variation. Crosses were performed in unialgal cultures to determine the mode of color inheritance of this light green strain. We determined the growth rate and pigment composition of the light green strain and compared it to the wild‐type, red strain. The light green color is stable and showed a recessive nuclear transmission. The light green strain had lower contents of chlorophyll‐a and phycobiliproteins (phycoerythrin, phycocyanin, and allophycocyanin), and grew more slowly than the red strain. This low performance is probably the reason why this mutant, although being stable, is so rare in nature. Nevertheless, it can be useful as a genetic visual marker and to investigate the structure and functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus.     

TN : TP ratio and planktivorous fish do not affect nutrient-chlorophyll relationships in shallow lakes

1. In previous work, phytoplankton regulation in freshwater lakes has been associated with many factors. Among these, the ratio of total nitrogen to total phosphorus (TN : TP) has been widely proposed as an index to identify whether phytoplankton are N‐ or P‐limited. From another point of view, it has been suggested that planktivorous fish can be used to control phytoplankton. 2. Large‐scale investigations of phytoplankton biomass [measured as chlorophyll a, (chl‐a)] were carried out in 45 mid‐lower Yangtze shallow lakes to test hypotheses concerning nutrient limitation (assessed with TN : TP ratios) and phytoplankton control by planktivorous fish. 3. Regression analyses indicated that TP was the primary regulating factor and TN the second regulating factor for both annual and summer phytoplankton chl‐a. In separate nutrient–chl‐a regression analyses for lakes of different TN : TP ratios, TP was also superior to TN in predicting chl‐a at all particular TN : TP ranges and over the entire TN : TP spectrum. Further analyses found that chl‐a : TP was not influenced by TN : TP, while chl‐a : TN was positively and highly correlated to TP : TN. 4. Based on these results, and others in the literature, we argue that the TN : TP ratio is inappropriate as an index to identify limiting nutrients. It is almost impossible to specify a ‘cut‐off’ TN : TP ratio to identify a limiting nutrient for a multi‐species community because optimal N : P ratios vary greatly among phytoplankton species. 5. Lakes with yields of planktivorous fish (silver and bighead carp, the species native to China) >100 kg ha^?1 had significantly higher chl‐a and lower Secchi depth than those with yields <100 kg ha^?1. TP–chl‐a and TP–Secchi depth relationships are not significantly different between lakes with yields >100 kg ha^?1 or <100 kg ha^?1. These results indicate that the fish failed to decrease chl‐a yield or enhance Z_SD. Therefore, silver carp and bighead carp are not recommended as a biotic agent for phytoplankton control in lake management if the goal is to control the entire phytoplankton and to enhance water quality.     

海洋微藻四列藻对光周期改变的响应

以海洋微藻四列藻(Tetraselmis tetrathele)为试验材料,设置了短光周期(A)和长光周期(B)两组试验:A组分光周期1h、2h、4h、6h、8h和10h6个等级,B组分光周期14h、16h、18h、20h、22h和23h6个等级,均以光周期12h为对照,测定了四列藻的细胞密度、叶绿素a和蛋白质含量等指标.结果表明,在试验所设计的13个光周期等级中,光周期为6h、8h、10h、12h、14h、16h和18h等7个处理的藻细胞密度、叶绿素a和蛋白质含量等指标均达到较高水平.而光周期小于4h的3个处理和大于20h的3个处理,四列藻细胞的生长受到了明显抑制,细胞密度、叶绿素a和蛋白质含量均显著降低.     

基于密度泛函叶绿素a分子活性的量子化学计算

在液相环境下,根据量子化学密度泛函(DFT)的B3LYP泛函在6-31G基组水平的计算结果,从叶绿素a分子的光谱特性、特征基团对前线轨道能量贡献率、激发态、Mulliken电荷分布等量化参数分析比较了其各特征基团的生物活性及吸收波长。结果表明:叶绿素a分子中的5个活性基团中,C(33)、O(34)所组成的酮羰基活性最强,卟啉环的活性次之,C(36)位置上的酯羰基和C(13)位置上的酯羰基及共轭碳碳双键的活性较弱;在发生HOMO→LUMO跃迁后,卟啉环转移的电荷变化总量为0.00012。而酮羰基得到的电荷变化,总量为-0.00062。     

一种自优化RBF神经网络的叶绿素a浓度时序预测模型

藻类水华发生过程具有复杂性、非线性、时变性等特点,其准确预测一直是一个国际性难题.以天津市于桥水库为研究对象,根据2000年1月至2003年12月常规监测的水生生态数据(采样周期为10 d),提出了一种结合时序方法的可自优化RBF神经网络智能预测模型,对判断藻类水华的重要指标叶绿素a浓度进行预测.研究了训练样本量及RBF神经网络扩展速度SPREAD值的可自优化性能,以及该模型用于于桥水库叶绿素a浓度的短期变化趋势预测的可行性.结果表明,预测性能指标随SPREAD值及样本量不同发生变化,该预测模型能自动寻到最优SPREAD值,并发现至少需要约两年的训练样本量才能达到较好预测效果.当样本量为105,SPREAD值为10时,预测效果最好,精度较高,预测值与实测值的相关系数R达到0.982.该方法对水库的藻类水华预警有一定的参考价值.     

Chlorophyll-a fluorescence evaluation of PEG-induced osmotic stress on PSII activity in Arabidopsis plants expressing SIP1

In this study, we evaluated the effect of osmotic stress on photosynthetic machinery of Arabidopsis plants expressing a gene encoding small basic intrinsic protein (SIP1) isolated from Solanum tuberosum. Intact leaves of SIP Arabidopsis plants were exposed to 15% polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution and fast Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) fluorescence induction kinetics was measured. Photosynthetic parameters like ratio of variable and maximum fluorescence (F_V/F_M), absorbance of photons per active reaction center (ABS/RC), trapping of photons per active reaction center (TRo/RC), electron transport per active reaction center (ETo/RC), and performance index (PI) were measured. Furthermore, the energy pipeline model was deduced in response to PEG stress. The membrane model includes a visualization of the average “antenna size”, which follows the value of the ABS/RC. Analysis of SIP Arabidopsis plants under PEG stress through fast Chl-a fluorescence transient showed that the damage caused due to PEG is more prominent at the donor side rather than the acceptor side of PSII. Higher PI in SIP plants under PEG stress indicated a better vitality than control plants. Overall, these results indicate that constitutive expression of SIP1 in Arabidopsis plants induces significant changes in the photosynthetic machinery under PEG-induced osmotic stress.     

Excitation energy transfer between β-carotene and chlorophyll-a in various systems

The excitation energy transfer from -carotene to chlorophyll-a in several seminatural systems such as liposomes, lipid layers and PSI complex has been studied at room and liquid nitrogen temperature. Only in a case of PSI complex an efficient energy transfer (about 30%) from -carotene to chlorophyll-a has been observed. The results of energy transfer were discussed on the ground of Dexter's mechanism by taking into account the recently discovered energy level (¹Ag) of -carotene.Abbreviations chl-a chlorophyll-a - -car -carotene - R_DA mean donor-acceptor distance - PSI photosystem I - _exe excitation wavelength - _e emission wavelength - d optical pathlength     

利用BP神经网络方法预测西湖叶绿素a的浓度

在西湖共设了 8个采样点 ,通过主成分分析选取了最能代表西湖水质状况的 7号点 (湖心 )作为研究对象。根据 2 0 0 0年 1月至 2 0 0 1年 4月西湖常规监测的水生生态数据 ,并用插值的方法使其生成足够多的样本数 ,利用 BP人工神经网络 ,探索其用于西湖水生生态状况 (叶绿素 a的浓度 )的短期变化趋势预测的可行性 ,从中找出最能反映西湖水生生态状况变化趋势的水质因子用来建立网络。并用 3号点的数据来检验网络的泛化性能 ,发现网络输出值与实际值吻合度较高。结果表明 ,水温和叶绿素a对未来一周的叶绿素 a含量影响最大 ,以这两者作为输入变量建立的网络简单、快捷 ,比其他线性数值模拟预测有较大的优势。说明人工神经网络对叶绿素 a的预测是一种有效工具 ,可为西湖富营养化治理提供科学依据。