Phytoplankton bloom in commercial shrimp ponds using green-water technology

Phytoplankton community composition, density, and succession were studied in tropical commercial ponds with euryhaline tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon Fabricius) using green-water technology at two different stocking densities [T₁ 10 post-larvae (PL) m⁻² and T₂ 15 PL m⁻²] in one grow-out season (May–October 2005) in Leganes, Iloilo, Philippines. Weekly qualitative and quantitative analyses of phytoplankton were done along with physicochemical analyses of the pond waters. A total of 103 taxa belonging to nine different algal classes were observed. Of these classes, the Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae and Bacillariophyceae constituted the great bulk of the phytoplankton population. The two treatments did not show any significant differences in the growth pattern of phytoplankton over time and in their diversity indices. Although T₂ had higher values than T₁ for algal density and species diversity index, the differences were not significant. The mean Shannon-Wiener diversity index for T₂ (1.56) was higher than T₁ (1.39) but not significantly different. Both treatment ponds had Chlorophyceae as the dominant algae during the initial culture phase [0–35 days of culture (DOC)], which coincided with high salinity (average = 35.67 ppt) and relatively high N:P ratios (average = 1.95). The chlorophycean bloom was made up mostly of Nannochloropsis sp. The cyanophycean bloom occurred towards the final culture phase (84–112/126 DOC) when there was low salinity (average = 19.5 ppt) and relatively high N:P ratios (average 2.01). A short diatom bloom occurred in T₂ at the same time that the N:P ratios rose dramatically to 4.2 at 42 DOC. Among the eight physicochemical parameters examined, positive correlations were noted among alkalinity, ammonium-nitrogen, nitrite-nitrogen and phytoplankton community. High species diversity index and species richness could have enhanced the stability of favorable Nannochloropsis blooms, especially in T₂. No differences were noted between the two treatments in terms of the shrimp’s biomass at harvest time (T₁ = 28.9 and T₂ = 29.4 g fresh wt per shrimp), although a significantly higher survival rate (P < 0.05) was observed in T₁ (97%) than in T₂ (56%). Both treatments were able to control the occurrence of the luminous bacterium Vibrio harveyi. Presented at the 6th Meeting of the Asia Pacific Society of Applied Phycology, Manila, Philippines.     

基于环境DNA宏条形码技术的辽东湾典型围海养殖池塘内水母多样性研究

研究使用环境DNA宏条形码技术(eDNA metabarcoding)检测辽东湾东北部河口区围海养殖池塘水母种类多样性,探索适用于水母种类物种鉴定和监测的新方法。利用环境DNA宏条形码技术,分别基于18S rDNA和COI宏条形码检测了辽东湾东北部河口区围海养殖池塘水母种类多样性,通过水样采集、过滤、eDNA提取、遗传标记扩增、测序与生物信息分析的环境DNA宏条形码标准化分析流程,从围海养殖池塘7个采样点中获得可检测的采样点数据。结果显示,基于18S rDNA宏条形码检测出8种水母种类,其中钵水母纲大型水母2种、水螅水母总纲小型水母6种;基于COI宏条形码技术共检测出19种水母种类,其中钵水母纲大型水母5种、水螅水母总纲小型水母14种;两种DNA条形码标记都显示养殖种类海蜇(Rhopilema esculentum)为优势种。研究结果表明,环境DNA宏条形码技术作为一种新兴的生物多样性监测手段可用于快速检测水母种类多样性,在水母类物种鉴定、监测及早期预警中有较大的应用潜能。     

海月水母精巢发育及排精过程的观察

采用实验生态学及显微观察的方法研究了海月水母(Aurelia sp.)的精巢发育及其排精过程,并对其精子活力进行了测定。结果表明:在水温20~22℃的条件下,海月水母碟状体经过40 d生长,达到伞径(7.50±0.71)cm、体重(28.70±6.60)g时,精巢出现并生长发育;经过60 d生长,达到伞径(11.77±0.51)cm、体重(83.54±10.36)g时,精巢发育成熟并开始排精;生长90 d后,精巢开始出现退化,当生长110 d时,精巢退化完全。在精巢发育过程中,其宽度和长度分别伴随海月水母伞径的增长而增宽和伸长,并出现折叠现象。海月水母的排精路线为:精子先粘附于精子细丝上,从精巢排出,继而经过胃循环沟、胃口腕沟,最后由口腕基沟排出体外。在水温22℃、盐度30、p H 8.0的条件下,海月水母精子活力随时间延长而降低,其快速运动时间和寿命分别为4 h 30 min和10 h。本研究结果显示,在适宜的环境条件下,海月水母精巢发育迅速,排精路线与过程相对简单,其精子活力强、寿命长,这种高效的生殖策略为其暴发奠定了基础,这或许也是海月水母能在地球上存活年代久远的原因之一。     

Severe Karenia brevis red tides influence juvenile bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) behavior in Sarasota Bay,Florida

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are natural stressors in the coastal environment that may be increasing in frequency and severity. This study investigates whether severe red tide blooms, caused by Karenia brevis, affect the behavior of resident coastal bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida through changes to juvenile dolphin activity budgets, ranging patterns, and social associations. Behavioral observations were conducted on free‐ranging juvenile dolphins during the summer months of 2005–2007, and behavior during red tide blooms was compared to periods of background K. brevis abundance. We also utilized dolphin group sighting data from 2004 to 2007 to obtain comparison information from before the most severe recent red tide of 2005 and incorporate social association information from adults in the study area. We found that coastal dolphins displayed a suite of behavioral changes associated with red tide blooms, including significantly altered activity budgets, increased sociality, and expanded ranging behavior. At present, we do not fully understand the mechanism behind these red tide‐associated behavioral effects, but they are most likely linked to underlying changes in resource availability and distribution. These behavioral changes have implications for more widespread population impacts, including increased susceptibility to disease outbreaks, which may contribute to unusual mortality events during HABs.     

甲藻的异养营养型

综述了甲藻的异养类型。目前已知异养营养型在甲藻中广泛存在,只有很少几种甲藻营严格自养营养方式。有近一半的甲藻物种是没有色素体的,还有很多甲藻即使具有色素体也会有异养营养需求,称为兼养营养类型。这些兼养类群不一定主要以有机物作为其获取碳的来源,而仅仅是补充一些生长必需的有机物如维生素、生物素等。兼养类群以渗透营养和腐食营养方式进行,同时也可以寄生方式和共生方式进行兼养生活。无色素体的甲藻以有机物作为碳的唯一来源,仅仅依靠异养方式生存,属于严格异养营养方式,又称有机营养型。它们是甲藻异养营养型的主体,其主要类型有寄生、渗透营养和吞噬营养。由于吞噬营养是甲藻异养的主要类型,因此论述了3种吞噬营养型:吞噬营养方式、捕食茎营养方式和捕食笼营养方式。吞噬营养方式在无甲类和具甲类甲藻中都有存在,主要通过甲藻细胞的纵沟或底部对猎物进行吞噬,也有研究发现吞噬部位为顶孔或片间带。捕食茎营养方式是通过捕食茎刺穿猎物细胞膜并吸食其细胞质来获取营养,在异养甲藻中也较常见。捕食笼营养方式只在原多甲藻属(Protoperidinium)和翼藻属(Diplopsalis)里发现,是甲藻通过鞭毛孔分泌细胞质到胞外形成捕食笼将猎物包裹并进行消化来摄食的。甲藻摄食对象尺寸范围变化较大,小至几微米,大至几百微米。有些甲藻具有摄食选择性,通过感应猎物释放的化学物质来判断猎物的位置并进行摄食,摄食完成后由于体积的增加经常会发生细胞分裂和蜕鞘。对于甲藻异养的其他形式如拦截摄食营养方式、伪足摄食营养方式、口足摄食营养方式、触手摄食营养方式等只作简单介绍。还就甲藻异养的研究方法、其生态学意义和进化学意义进行简要论述,并对相关研究进行展望。     

海蜇胶原蛋白的提取及纯化(英文)

通过胃蛋白酶的限制性酶切、选择性盐析及阳离子交换柱的层析作用,低温从海蜇中胶层提取可得到胃蛋白酶促溶且去除端肽(telopeptide)的胶原蛋白(PSC)。紫外-可见扫描测得PSC的最大吸收峰位于235nm。凝胶电泳及氨基酸分析显示这些都符合Ⅰ型胶原的特征,同水母S.nomurai和Rhopilema asamushi来源的胶原蛋白基本一致,作为一个低等动物,其氨基酸分析显示了脊椎动物和非脊椎动物的微小差异。     

The effects of ultrasound on cyanobacteria

The use of ultrasound for the control of algae and in particular for Microcystis aeruginosa has been investigated. The results indicate that sonication may provide a more environmentally friendly and more effective method for the control of cyanobacteria blooms than conventional treatments.Algae blooms occur frequently and globally in water bodies and are a major concern in terms of their effects on other species such as plants, fish and other microorganisms together with the potential danger to human health from cyanobacterial toxins that are carcinogenic. In addition to removing the algae itself ultrasound can also degrade such toxins. A range of ultrasonic conditions (in terms of frequency and intensity) have been studied under laboratory conditions together with a small number of pilot (field) studies that confirm the potential for ultrasonic treatment of algae on a large scale.     

Climate change and the phytoplankton spring bloom: warming and overwintering zooplankton have similar effects on phytoplankton

Indoor mesocosms were used to study the combined effect of warming and of different densities of overwintering mesozooplankton (mainly copepods) on the spring development of phytoplankton in shallow, coastal waters. Similar to previous studies, warming accelerated the spring phytoplankton peak by ca. 1 day °C^?1 whereas zooplankton did not significantly influence timing. Phytoplankton biomass during the experimental period decreased with warming and with higher densities of overwintering zooplankton. Similarly, average cell size and average effective particle size (here: colony size) decreased both with zooplankton density and warming. A decrease in phytoplankton particle size is generally considered at typical footprint of copepod grazing. We conclude that warming induced changes in the magnitude and structure of the phytoplankton spring bloom cannot be understood without considering grazing by overwintering zooplankton.     

Evolution of striated muscle: jellyfish and the origin of triploblasty

The larval and polyp stages of extant Cnidaria are bi-layered with an absence of mesoderm and its differentiation products. This anatomy originally prompted the diploblast classification of the cnidarian phylum. The medusa stage, or jellyfish, however, has a more complex anatomy characterized by a swimming bell with a well-developed striated muscle layer. Based on developmental histology of the hydrozoan medusa this muscle derives from the entocodon, a mesoderm-like third cell layer established at the onset of medusa formation. According to recent molecular studies cnidarian homologs to bilaterian mesoderm and myogenic regulators are expressed in the larval and polyp stages as well as in the entocodon and derived striated muscle. Moreover striated and smooth muscle cells may have evolved directly and independently from non-muscle cells as indicated by phylogenetic analysis of myosin heavy chain genes (MHC class II). To accommodate all evidences we propose that striated muscle-based locomotion coevolved with the nervous and digestive systems in a basic metazoan Bauplan from which the ancestors of the Ctenophora (comb jellyfish), Cnidaria (jellyfish and polyps), as well as the Bilateria are derived. We argue for a motile tri-layered cnidarian ancestor and a monophyletic descent of striated muscle in Cnidaria and Bilateria. As a consequence, diploblasty evolved secondarily in cnidarian larvae and polyps.     

Modulation and adaptation of carbonic anhydrase activity in Microcystis spp. under different environmental factors

The carbonic anhydrase (CA) activities were determined in three cyanobacterial species, namely Microcystis aeruginosa Kütz., Microcystis viridis (A.Br.) Lemm, and Microcystis wesenbergii (Kom.) Kom, which were dominant in a lake (Dianchi Lake) subject to major blooms. In more detailed experiments on M. aeruginosa, the effects of inorganic carbon, pH, temperature, nitrogen/phosphorus ratio, glucose, and light intensity on CA activity were also investigated. Because of the relatively alkaline pH value of the culture media for the optimum growth of algal cells, bicarbonate ions were the main form of exogenous inorganic carbon. The results showed that the CA activity of M. aeruginosa was influenced dramatically by the concentration of bicarbonate. Consequently, it was suggested that bicarbonate ions were the main form of exogenous inorganic carbon that M. aeruginosa could utilize. Cultures grown in the dark exhibited CA activity six times higher than that of cells cultured mixotrophically with the addition of glucose. Features of eutrophic water bodies promoted an increase in CA activity, and the resulting higher CA activity would accelerate the utilization of inorganic carbon and favor the growth and blooming of Microcystis spp. in eutrophic lakes. Although the experiments were carried out under controlled experimental conditions, they could provide some basic data that would prove useful for the control of cyanobacterial blooms in nature.