Abiotic factors influencing cyanobacterial bloom development in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea)

Blooms of cyanobacteria are a recurrent phenomenon in the Baltic Sea, including the Gulf of Finland. The spatial extension, duration, intensity and species composition of these blooms varies widely between years. Alg@line data collected regularly from ferries as well as weather service and marine monitoring data from 1997 to 2005 are analysed to determine the main abiotic factors influencing the intensity and species composition of cyanobacterial blooms in the Gulf of Finland. It is demonstrated that the development of the Nodularia spumigena Mertens bloom is highly dependent on weather conditions such as photosynthetically active radiation and water temperature. Nutrient conditions, especially the surplus of phosphorus (according to Redfield ratio) related to the pre-bloom upwelling events in the Gulf, affect the intensity of Aphanizomenon sp. (L.) Ralfs blooms. Differences in bloom timing and duration indicate that, if the preconditions (like nutrient ratio/concentration and weather conditions) for bloom formation are favourable, then the Aphanizomenon bloom starts earlier, the overall bloom period is longer and the Nodularia peak might appear in a wider time window. Handling editor: K. Martens     

Mulch decomposition under agroforestry conditions in a sub-humid tropical savanna processes and influence of perennial plants

For the effective use of mulch materials in tropical agriculture and agroforestry knowledge of the speed of decomposition and nutrient release is of primary importance. The transfer of these informations from one site to another requires comparability of the processes of decomposition and their intensity at the two sites. In a litterbag experiment the decomposition and release of main nutrients from leaves and branches of Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. were investigated with regard to the underlying physical and biological processes during an 81 days period. To test the influence of perennial plants on the decomposition process, the study was conducted on an agricultural field in 1.1 m, 6.9 m and 14.9 m distance from a tree and hedge band. During the first 11 days leaching was high, especially for N and P (about 50% lost) and K (75–80% lost). After the 11th day consumption of the mulch material by the soil fauna was the dominating process of decomposition. During this phase the perennial plants significantly retarded the decomposition of Cajanus branches, but not leaves, probably by their influence on termite activity. Ca release was also retarded in leaves. After about 6–7 weeks, more than 90% of all main nutrients except Ca had been released from the samples. To minimize nutrient losses from nutrient-rich mulch materials, they should be applied repeatedly in small quantities according to the nutrient demand of the crop.     

Community composition, toxigenicity, and environmental conditions during a cyanobacterial bloom occurring along 1,100 kilometers of the Murray River

A cyanobacterial bloom impacted over 1,100 km of the Murray River, Australia, and its tributaries in 2009. Physicochemical conditions in the river were optimal to support a bloom at the time. The data suggest that at least three blooms occurred concurrently in different sections of the river, with each having a different community composition and associated cyanotoxin profile. Microscopic and genetic analyses suggested the presence of potentially toxic Anabaena circinalis, Microcystis flos-aquae, and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii at many locations. Low concentrations of saxitoxins and cylindrospermopsin were detected in Anabaena and Cylindrospermopsis populations. A multiplex quantitative PCR was used, employing novel oligonucleotide primers and fluorescent TaqMan probes, to examine bloom toxigenicity. This single reaction method identified the presence of the major cyanotoxin-producing species present in these environmental samples and also quantified the various toxin biosynthesis genes. A large number of cells present throughout the bloom were not potential toxin producers or were present in numbers below the limit of detection of the assay and therefore not an immediate health risk. Potential toxin-producing cells, possessing the cylindrospermopsin biosynthesis gene (cyrA), predominated early in the bloom, while those possessing the saxitoxin biosynthesis gene (sxtA) were more common toward its decline. In this study, the concentrations of cyanotoxins measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) correlated positively with the respective toxin gene copy numbers, indicating that the molecular method may be used as a proxy for bloom risk assessment.     

Regulation of cyanobacterial pigment-protein composition and organization by environmental factors

The coordinate expression of stress-specific genes is a common response of all organisms to altered environmental conditions. In cyanobacteria, the physiological consequences of stress are often reflected in both the ultrastructure of the cell and in photosynthesis-related properties. This review will focus on the alterations in cyanobacterial pigment-protein organization which occur under different growth conditions, and how several molecular genetic aproaches are being used in this laboratory to investigate the regulatory mechanisms underlying these alterations. We will discuss in detail the response to iron starvation, and present a testable hypothesis for the mechanism of thylakoid reorganization mediated by this response.Abbreviations ConA concanavalin A - CP chlorophyll-protein complex - LHCP light harvesting chlorophyll protein - MSP manganese-stabilizing protein     

高温强太阳光照条件下蓝藻水华形成的实验研究

富营养化和藻类水华尤其是蓝藻水华在全世界范围内的湖泊中都有发生,但富营养化和水面藻类水华出现之间没有等同关系.目前人们对水华形成机制还不是很了解,对水华的具体形成过程也不是很清楚,因此若能通过一定的途径使没有形成水面水华的富营养水体出现水面水华就对水华形成机制的研究很有意义.实验选用高温季节里,于2007年8月28日将室外塑料蓝桶中培育的浮游植物丰富的天然水体-其中含有类颤藻鱼腥藻但其并不占据优势,引入到无色透明玻璃瓶中.实验初始水体的chl-a、TN和TP依次为 615.20mg·^-3、9.144mg·L^-1和0.453mg·L^-1.2007年8月29日对各处理进行营养盐的梯度添加,添加的营养盐为KNO₃和KH₂PO₄.共有4个营养盐添加梯度,添加的N/P(质量比)为7:1,其中添加的N的梯度为(mg·L-1):0,0.5,1.0和2.0.实验过程中测定了水温、光合有效辐射、氮磷营养盐、叶绿素a和浮游植物种类的数量变化.结果表明实验过程中各处理的营养盐和chl-a含量均比开始时有下降,同时各处理中水面出现了类颤藻鱼腥藻水华,且类颤藻鱼腥藻的数量随处理中营养盐添加量的增多而升高.这说明了含有少量鱼腥藻的高chl-a含量的天然水体在高温季节引入到透明玻璃容器中后能形成水表面鱼腥藻水华,玻璃容器中的高温强光照条件和营养盐的添加能促进鱼腥藻在竞争中取得优势.本实验利用小玻璃容器,排除了鱼类、风浪、底泥等多个因素的影响,集中关注营养盐添加和高温强光照因子,成功重现了蓝藻表面水华的发生.营养盐添加水平与浮游植物种间竞争并导致水体表面水华发生之间的关系在此实验中得到很好的体现.虽然本实验不能揭示蓝藻水华形成的具体机制,但为蓝藻水华形成机制研究提供了便捷的途径而很有意义.     

Effects of sand burial on biomass,chlorophyll fluorescence and extracellular polysaccharides of man-made cyanobacterial crusts under experimental conditions

Soil cyanobacterial crusts occur throughout the world, especially in the semiarid and arid regions. It always encounters sand burial, which is an important feature of mobile sand dunes. A greenhouse study was conducted to determine the effects of sand burial on biomass, chlorophyll fluorescence and extracellular polysaccharides of man-made cyanobacterial crusts in six periods of time (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 d after burying) and at five depths (0, 0.2, 0.5, 1 and 2cm). The results indicated that with the increase of the burial time and burial depth extracellular polysaccharides content and Fv/Fm decreased correspondingly and there were no significant differences between 20 and 30 burial days under different burial depths. The degradation of chlorophyll a content appeared only at 20 and 30 burial days and there was also no significant difference between them under different burial depths. It was also observed a simultaneous decrease of the values of the Fv/Fm and the content of extracellular polysaccharides happened in the crusted cyanobacterium Microcoleus vaginatus Gom. It may suggest that there exists a relationship between extracellular polysaccharides and recovery of the activity of photosystem II (PS II) after rehydration.     

Effects of sand burial on biomass, chlorophyll fluorescence and extracellular polysaccharides of man-made cyanobacterial crusts under experimental conditions

Soil cyanobacterial crusts occur throughout the world, especially in the semiarid and arid regions. It always encounters sand burial, which is an important feature of mobile sand dunes. A greenhouse study was conducted to determine the effects of sand burial on biomass, chlorophyll fluorescence and extracellular polysaccharides of man-made cyanobacterial crusts in six periods of time (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 d after burying) and at five depths (0, 0.2, 0.5, 1 and 2cm). The results indicated that with the increase of the burial time and burial depth extracellular polysaccharides content and Fv/Fm decreased correspondingly and there were no significant differences between 20 and 30 burial days under dif-ferent burial depths. The degradation of chlorophyll a content appeared only at 20 and 30 burial days and there was also no significant difference between them under different burial depths. It was also observed a simultaneous decrease of the values of the Fv/Fm and the content of extracellular poly-saccharides happened in the crusted cyanobacterium Microcoleus vaginatus Gom. It may suggest that there exists a relationship between extracellular polysaccharides and recovery of the activity of pho-tosystem II (PS II) after rehydration.     

气候变化与太湖蓝藻暴发的关系

对太湖区域40多年来气温、降水量、日照时数随时间变化的特征进行了分析,并对太湖蓝藻的爆发时间、次数、等级进行了统计,采用对比分析法对气候变化与太湖蓝藻暴发的关系进行了分析。结果表明:太湖区域1961—2007年总的气候倾向率,年平均气温为0.35℃.10a-1,年累计降水量为31.33mm.10a-1,年累计日照时数为-69.00h.10a-1;而突变点,气温在1989年,降水量在1979年,日照时数在1999年,在突变点年份后,气温升高、降水量增加和日照时数减少的趋势更加明显。2000—2007年气候变得异常,主要表现为气温上升速度加快,约为1961—2007年的3.7倍,5月和10月的这种气候倾向性更明显;降水量减少,比1961—2007年减少了178.10mm.10a-1,日照时数增加,比1961—2007年增加了244.23h.10a-1。气候变暖速度加快为太湖蓝藻的生长发育提供了热量条件;降水量减少,加速了太湖水质恶化,为蓝藻暴发提供了有利的水质环境条件;日照时数增多,充足的光照为蓝藻生长发育提供了优良的光合条件;温度偏高、降水量偏少、日照时数偏多的气候变化趋势对应太湖蓝藻暴发的次数也偏多,造成了太...     

Photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in a cyanobacterial bloom in the Baltic Sea

Daily integrals of photosynthesis by a cyanobacterial bloom in the Baltic Sea, during the summer of 1993, were calculated from the vertical distributions of light, temperature and the organisms in the water column and from photosynthesis/irradiance curves of picoplanktonic and diazotrophic cyanobacteria isolated from the community. The distribution of chlorophyll a in size-classes <20?µm and >20?µm was monitored over 9 days that included a deep mixing event followed by calm. Picocyanobacteria formed 70% of the cyanobacterial biomass and contributed 56% of the total primary production. Of the filamentous diazotrophs that formed the other 30%, Aphanizomenon contributed 28% and a Nodularia-containing fraction 16% of the primary production. For the whole population there was little change in standardized photosynthetic O₂ production, which remained at about 31?mmol?m^?2 before and after the mixing event. There were differences, however, between the classes of cyanobacteria: in picocyanobacteria primary production hardly changed, while in Aphanizomenon it increased by 2.6 and in Nodularia it fell below zero. Total phytoplankton photosynthesis was strongly dependent on total daily insolation with the compensation point at a photon insolation of 22.7?mol?m^?2?d^?1. Similar analyses of N₂ fixation showed much less dependence on depth distribution of light and biomass: Aphanizomenon fixed about twice as much N₂ as Nodularia their; their fixation exceeded their own N demand by about 12%. Together, these species contributed 49% of the total N demand of the phytoplankton population. Computer models based on the measured light attenuation and photosynthetic coefficients indicate that growth of the cyanobacterial population could occur only in the summer months when the critical depth of the cyanobacteria exceeds the depth of mixing.     

2002-2018年滇池外海蓝藻水华暴发时空变化特征及其驱动因子

为弄清滇池外海蓝藻水华暴发时空变化规律及其影响因素,将滇池外海分为北、中、南3个区域,基于2002—2018年期间中分辨率成像光谱仪(MODIS)反演的水华面积,分析了上述3个区域蓝藻水华的时空变化特征。基于2007—2018年水文、气象和出入流数据,构建了外海三维水动力生态模型(AEM3D),并计算了各区域的水力滞留时间。通过冗余分析(RDA)、随机森林(RF)和斯皮尔曼相关分析方法,分析了影响以上区域蓝藻水华暴发的主要驱动因子。结果表明：2002—2018年期间,整个滇池外海区域年平均水华面积比(水华面积占该区域总面积比例)呈缓慢下降趋势,空间上由北向南依次递减,整个外海水华暴发面积最大主要发生在秋季。在外海北部区域,其东部水华较西部更为严重,而在中部和南部区域,呈现西部水华较东部更为严重的空间分布模式。通过对各影响因子的统计分析发现,风速、水温和日照时长是上述各区域中蓝藻水华暴发的主要决定性因素。水华暴发期间以西南风为主导风向,且上述区域的水华面积比随风速增加呈下降趋势。在外海各区域,水力滞留时间与水华暴发面积均呈显著正相关,空间上水力滞留时间由北向南逐渐增大,风速和风向是影响蓝...     

Reproductive behaviour in bulls raised under tropical and subtropical conditions

The present review describes the behavioral characteristics of bulls raised under tropical and subtropical conditions and emphasizes the difficulties associated with adequately monitoring their performance in the field to predict reproductive potential. Most of the information generated for improving our understanding of bull behavior under range conditions has been generated in Bos taurus bulls. The limited information available in Bos indicus indicates that males searching for cows in estrus display different sexual patterns when compared to B. taurus bulls and a poor selection of a sire utilized in range conditions can have an important impact in cattle production. Screening and selecting [cg1] bulls for desirable reproductive traits and high libido is known to improve the reproductive performance of the herd. The reproductive and genetic potential of a bull is influenced by factors such as management, age, nutrition and problems related to the female such as embryonic death and anestrus. However, behavioral characteristics of bulls when detecting and serving cows in estrus is poorly understood.     

Plant and cyanobacterial hemoglobins reduce nitrite to nitric oxide under anoxic conditions

The ability of ferrous hemoglobins to reduce nitrite to form nitric oxide has been demonstrated for hemoglobins from animals, including myoglobin, blood cell hemoglobin, neuroglobin, and cytoglobin. In all cases, the rate constants for the bimolecular reactions with nitrite are relatively slow, with maximal values of ~5 M(-1) s(-1) at pH 7. Combined with the relatively low concentrations of nitrite found in animal blood plasma (normally no greater than 13 μM), these slow reaction rates are unlikely to contribute significantly to hemoglobin oxidation, nitrite reduction, or NO production. Plants and cyanobacteria, however, must contend with much higher (millimolar) nitrite concentrations necessitated by assimilatory nitrogen metabolism during hypoxic growth, such as the conditions commonly found during flooding or in waterlogged soil. Here we report rate constants for nitrite reduction by a ferrous plant hemoglobin (rice nonsymbiotic hemoglobin 1) and a ferrous cyanobacterial hemoglobin from Synechocystis that are more than 10 times faster than those observed for animal hemoglobins. These rate constants, along with the relatively high concentrations of nitrite present during hypoxia, suggest that plant and cyanobacterial hemoglobins could serve as anaerobic nitrite reductases in vivo.     

Genome-scale metabolic modelling when changes in environmental conditions affect biomass composition

Genome-scale metabolic modeling is an important tool in the study of metabolism by enhancing the collation of knowledge, interpretation of data, and prediction of metabolic capabilities. A frequent assumption in the use of genome-scale models is that the in vivo organism is evolved for optimal growth, where growth is represented by flux through a biomass objective function (BOF). While the specific composition of the BOF is crucial, its formulation is often inherited from similar organisms due to the experimental challenges associated with its proper determination.A cell’s macro-molecular composition is not fixed and it responds to changes in environmental conditions. As a consequence, initiatives for the high-fidelity determination of cellular biomass composition have been launched. Thus, there is a need for a mathematical and computational framework capable of using multiple measurements of cellular biomass composition in different environments. Here, we propose two different computational approaches for directly addressing this challenge: Biomass Trade-off Weighting (BTW) and Higher-dimensional-plane InterPolation (HIP).In lieu of experimental data on biomass composition-variation in response to changing nutrient environment, we assess the properties of BTW and HIP using three hypothetical, yet biologically plausible, BOFs for the Escherichia coli genome-scale metabolic model iML1515. We find that the BTW and HIP formulations have a significant impact on model performance and phenotypes. Furthermore, the BTW method generates larger growth rates in all environments when compared to HIP. Using acetate secretion and the respiratory quotient as proxies for phenotypic changes, we find marked differences between the methods as HIP generates BOFs more similar to a reference BOF than BTW. We conclude that the presented methods constitute a conceptual step in developing genome-scale metabolic modelling approaches capable of addressing the inherent dependence of cellular biomass composition on nutrient environments.     

Harvest management affects biomass composition responses of C4 perennial bioenergy grasses in the humid subtropical USA

Elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) and energycane (Saccharum spp. hybrid) are high‐yielding C4 grasses that are attractive biofuel feedstocks in the humid subtropics. Determining appropriate harvest management practices for optimal feedstock chemical composition is an important precursor to their successful use in production systems. In this research, we have investigated the effects of harvest timing and frequency on biomass nutrient, carbohydrate and lignin composition of UF1 and cv. Merkeron elephantgrasses and cv. L 79‐1002 energycane. Biomass properties under increased harvest frequency (twice per year) and delayed harvest (once per year after frost) were compared with a control (once per year prior to frost). There were no differences between elephantgrass entries in structural carbohydrates; however, elephantgrasses had greater structural hexose concentration than energycane for single‐harvest treatments (avg. 398 vs. 366 mg g^?1), a trait that is preferred for biofuel production. Delayed harvest of energycane decreased structural hexose compared with the control (374 vs. 357 mg g^?1) because nonstructural components accumulated in energycane stem as harvest was delayed. Frequent defoliation (2X) increased N, P, and ash concentrations (75% for N and P and 58% for ash) in harvested biomass compared with single‐harvest treatments. We conclude that multiple harvests per year increase the harvest period during which feedstock is available for processing, but they do not result in optimal feedstock composition. In contrast, extending the period of feedstock supply by delaying a single harvest to after first freeze did not negatively affect cell wall constituent properties, while it increased length of the harvest period by ~30 days in the southeast USA.     

Heterotrophic production of Chlorella sp. TISTR 8990—biomass growth and composition under various production conditions

The green microalga Chlorella sp. TISTR 8990 was grown heterotrophically in the dark using various concentrations of a basal glucose medium with a carbon‐to‐nitrogen mass ratio of 29:1. The final biomass concentration and the rate of growth were highest in the fivefold concentrated basal glucose medium (25 g L^?1 glucose, 2.5 g L^?1 KNO₃) in batch operations. Improving oxygen transfer in the culture by increasing the agitation rate and decreasing the culture volume in 500‐mL shake flasks improved growth and glucose utilization. A maximum biomass concentration of nearly 12 g L^?1 was obtained within 4 days at 300 rpm, 30°C, with a glucose utilization of nearly 76% in batch culture. The total fatty acid (TFA) content of the biomass and the TFA productivity were 102 mg g^?1 and 305 mg L^?1 day^?1, respectively. A repeated fed‐batch culture with four cycles of feeding with the fivefold concentrated medium in a 3‐L bioreactor was evaluated for biomass production. The total culture period was 11 days. A maximum biomass concentration of nearly 26 g L^?1 was obtained with a TFA productivity of 223 mg L^?1 day^?1. The final biomass contained (w/w) 13.5% lipids, 20.8% protein and 17.2% starch. Of the fatty acids produced, 52% (w/w) were saturated, 41% were monounsaturated and 7% were polyunsaturated (PUFA). A low content of PUFA in TFA feedstock is required for producing high quality biodiesel. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1589–1600, 2017     

Species composition and phytoplankton biomass in a tropical African lake (Lake Awassa,Ethiopia)

The species composition and phytoplankton biomass of Lake Awassa, Ethiopia were studied from September 1985 to July 1986 in relation to some limnological features of the lake. During the study period, three phases of thermal stratification were recognized: a period of unstable stratification and near-complete mixing was followed by a stable stratification period and another period of complete mixing. Complete mixing was associated with cooling of air temperature with an influx of cool rain and high rainfall. The underwater light penetration showed a similar pattern over the whole period with the highest in the red, and the lowest in the blue spectral region. Euphotic depth varied between 1.6 and 3.0 meters with the highest measurements corresponding to the stable stratification period. PO₄-P concentrations ranged between 23 and 45 µg l^–1 and NO₃-N concentrations varied between 7 and 14 µg l^–1 during the study period. Both nutrients showed increasing values associated with mixing periods and/or the rainy season.A total of 100 phytoplankton species were identified with 48% of the taxa represented by green algae, 30% by blue-green algae, 11% by diatoms, and the rest by chrysophytes, dinoflagellates, cryptomonads and euglenoids. The dominant phytoplankton species were Lyngbya nyassae, Botryococcus braunii and Microcystis species. Seasonal biomass variation was pronounced in the first two species but not in Mycrocystis. Phytoplankton biomass increased following the mixing period in December, and thermal destratification during May to July which was also a period with high rainfall and relatively high nutrient concentration. While the seasonal variation of the total phytoplankton community in Lake Awassa was relatively low (coefficient of variation < 20%), it was higher in some of the individual component species.     

汤溪水库蓝藻水华发生的影响因子分析

汤溪水库位于北回归线附近的热带地区,是广东省东部的大型供水水库。1997年来该水库频繁在10～11月份发生蓝藻水华,但在2003年,蓝藻水华提前在7月份发生。对影响蓝藻水华发生的主要因子进行了分析,探讨了2003年蓝藻水华提前发生的原因。汤溪水库的营养物质主要来源于流域降水形成的地表径流,其中5月份降水多,水库营养盐输入量大;该水库浮游植物生长基本不受N、P营养盐限制,具备蓝藻水华发生的N、P营养盐基础。在4～11月份,水库表层水温为25～35℃,适合蓝藻水华的发生,水温与蓝藻、微囊藻的丰度具有显著相关性,较高的水温是蓝藻水华发生重要条件之一。在具备充分营养盐与适合水温条件下,水体稳定性是控制汤溪水库蓝藻水华发生时间的关键因子。2003年全年的降水仅为多年平均值的76.8%,且汛期7月份降水量只有64mm,远小于往年的同期降水量,汛期反常的水体稳定性导致了蓝藻水华的提前发生。     

Thermal equilibrium responses in Guzerat cattle raised under tropical conditions

The literature is very sparse regarding research on the thermal equilibrium in Guzerat cattle (Bos indicus) under field conditions. Some factors can modify the physiological response of Guzerat cattle, such as the reactivity of these animals to handling. Thus, the development of a methodology to condition and select Guzerat cattle to acclimate them to the routine collection of data without altering their physiological response was the objective of the preliminary experiment. Furthermore, the animals selected were used in the main experiment to determine their thermal equilibrium according to the thermal environment. For this proposal, the metabolic heat production and heat exchange between the animal and the environment were measured simultaneously in the field with an indirect calorimetry system coupled to a facial mask. The results of the preliminary experiment showed that the respiratory rate could demonstrate that conditioning efficiently reduced the reactivity of the animals to experimental handling. Furthermore, the respiratory rate can be used to select animals with less reactivity. The results of the main experiment demonstrate that the skin, hair-coat surface and expired air temperature depend on the air temperature, whereas the rectal temperature depends on the time of day; consequently, the sensible heat flow was substantially reduced from 70 to 20 W m⁻² when the air temperature increased from 24 to 34 °C. However, the respiratory latent heat flow increased from 10 to 15 W m⁻² with the same temperature increase. Furthermore, the metabolic heat production remained stable, independent of the variation of the air temperature; however, it was higher in males than in females (by approximately 25%). This fact can be explained by the variation of the ventilation rate, which had a mean value of 1.6 and 2.2 L s⁻¹ for females and males, respectively.