Caractéristiques du microphytobenthos d'un lac volcanique. Characterization of the Microphytobenthos in a Volcanic Meromictic Lake (Lake Pavin,France). II. Productivity and Relationships

The collection of microphytobenthos for primary production studies in Lake Pavin was performed with a Jenkin sampler. This corer permits sampling at different levels below the surface of the lake. Five levels (10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 m below the surface) were regularly investigated for more than one year. Each was inhabited by a characteristic population of dominant diatoms. The primary production, which was very large during the summer, decreases with depth. During the winter, the ¹⁴C assimilation occurs at a very low rate in clear incubators, but in dark incubators, the rate is high. Therefore, the ¹⁴C fixation in darkness is greater than the photosynthetic assimilation. This phenomenon together with the very important data recorded for photosynthetic efficiency (especially at the lowest levels, 40 and 60 m deep) suggest that microphytes on the bottom of the lake assimilate organic compounds during much of the year.     

Contribution a l'etude limnologique du lac pavin (France) I: Facteurs abiotiques et phytoplancton

Located at 1197 m in the Massif Central Français, lake Pavin has a volcanic origin. It is a dimictic and meromictic lake of 44 ha of area and 92 m depth. Samples were collected bimonthly at 8 depth (0 to 40 m) from May 1973 to April 1974. Physicochemical parameters (light energy, temperature, pH, conductivity, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Silice, Carbon) and dynamics of phytoplanktonic populations (cells counts, standing crop, primary production, photosynthetic pigments) were studied.The waters of this lake are clear, with low conductivity and high concentrations of oxygen in the first 40 meters. In a water column, 0–40 meters, the means of nitrogen concentrations are between 45 and 279 µg/l and between 0 and 161 µg/l for phosphorus. Phytoplankton is caracterised by an important development of Diatoms (Melosira italica subsp. subarctica and Asterionella formosa) in winter and spring, opposed to low standing crops of Chlorophycea (Coenococcus, Sphaerocystis, Chlamydomonas) in summer. The annual mean of primary production is about 360 mg C ass./m².J. The highes values of the activity coefficient (P/B) are found during the development of Chlorophycea, but photosynthetic efficiency is maximum in winter for Diatom populations.To summarize physico-chemical parameters and phytoplankton relationships, a synthetical mathematical model was made by Principal Components Analysis.

     

Contribution a l'étude d'une couche a hydrogène sulfure en lac méromictique (Lac Pavin,France)

The origin of this lake is volcanic. It is meromictic because of his form and the climate of Auvergne (Massif Central).Sulfate is reduced into sulfide by bacteria in the anaerobic layer. The most important concentration of sulfate is found in the –62 m layer; H₂S appears in the presence of Fe without Mn being present. In the water the concentration of Mn and Fe increase from –55 m to –70 m. The high concentration of Fe (50 mg/1) is due to the presence of suspended FeS and maybe to the presence of Fe in inorganic matter.

     

Interets du dosage de l'ensemble des nucleotides adenyliques pour l'estiimation de la biomasse des populations phytoplanctoniques lacustres (Lac Pavin, France)

Three methods for phytoplanktonic standing crop estimationshave been used during ecological successions in a meso-oligotrophiclake (Le Pavin, France). In this study, it appears that cellcounting and pigment concentrations overestimate the biomassof pioneer population, by taking into account a high numberof dead cells. It seems preferable to estimate biomass fromATP concentrations, to measure living phytoplanktonic standingcrop and to calculate activity coefficients. However, continuousrearrangements exist between ATP, ADP and AMP in the pool ofadenine nucleotides. These rearrangements, which are revealedby energy charge variations, indicate changes in intracellularATP concentrations. Consequently it is desirable to integrateenergy charge variations in standing crop estimates from ATPconcentrations.     

Signification des caractères partagés entre Bennettitales et Cycadales. Implications de la découverte d''une Cycadale nouvelle du Cénomanien de l''Anjou (France)

The lagoonal Cenomanian formation (Lower Cretaceous) of clays of the region of Baugeois (north of Angers) has supplied an exceptionally well-preserved fossil flora: leaves, woody structures or/and reproductive organs of pteridophyta, gymnosperms and angiosperms. A well-preserved fossil plant found in a quarry “Le Brouillard” (8 km from Angers), has allowed a detailed morphological and structural study of this species. A comparative study with extant plants has confirmed an undoubted link between the contemporary genus Dioon (an endemic cycad from Mexico) and the fossil species. However, features observed on the lower epidermis of the leaflets, present a similarity with some Jurassic Bennettitales. This discovery, added to other common features shared by these two orders, raises questions about their relationships, thought to be different from a phylogenetic viewpoint.

Résumé

La formation lagunaire cénomanienne (Crétacé inférieur) des Argiles du Baugeois, au nord d'Angers, a fourni une flore fossile riche et exceptionnellement bien conservée: feuilles, structures ligneuses ou/et organes reproducteurs de ptéridophytes, de gymnospermes et d'angiospermes. L'excellent état de conservation d'un fragment de plante fossile, récolté dans la carrière Le Brouillard à 8 km d'Angers, a permis une étude détaillée de la morphologie et de la structure foliaire de cette plante. L'étude comparative avec des plantes actuelles a démontré l'existence d'un lien de parenté entre le genre Dioon (cycadale endémique du Mexique) et le fossile, mais des caractères originaux observés sur l'épiderme inférieur des folioles, présentent des similitudes avec certains genres de Bennettitales du Jurassique. Une telle découverte, ajoutée aux autres caractères communs préalablement décrits par d'autres auteurs, soulèvent à nouveau quelques questions sur les relations de parentés entre ces deux groupes supposés phylogénétiquement éloignés actuellement.     

Les Diatomées des Sédiments Holocènes du Bassin du Lac Afrera (Giulietti) (Afar Septentrional,Ethiopie). Essai de Reconstitution de l'Évolution du Milieu

The calcareous holocene sediments found in the outlying areas around Lake Afrera (Ethiopia) contain diatoms in abundance, some of which seem to be new species. Qualitative and quantitative studies, with informatory treatment of the data, allow us to reconstruct the main characteristics of the sedimentation conditions and their variations in the course of time. During periods of warm and humid climatic conditions, the basin was progressively filled up with alkaline, lightly saline and quickly eutrophic water. At this time, the lake covered an area of 250 km². This period occurred from 9800 years B. P. to around 7800 years B. P. It was followed by a short interruption, showed by important modifications in the diatom flora and a marked increase in the depth and salinity of the water. It has been hypothesized that this phenomenon had a tectonic origin. Soon thereafter, the previous ecological conditions reappeared. In the following period the lake began to dry up and the diatoms began to disappear. The present-day highly saline Lake Afrera is all that remains of this large holocene water area. Diatoms of the Holocene Sediments in the Afrera Lake Basin. (Northern Afar, Ethiopia). Reconstruction of the Environmental Evolution     

Observations sur Quelques Ciliés Astomes des Oligochètes du lac d'Ohrid (Yougoslavie). I. Famille des Radiophryinae.

SYNOPSIS. Six species of astomatous Infusoria, 4 new, are described from the alimentary tract of Oligochaeta from Ochrida Lake. Two belong to Ochridanus , characterized by a cytoskeleton whose "V"-shaped basal piece bears on its branches two articulated hooks brought together by a skeletal blade. This genus found in Ochridanous Tubificidae represents the counterpart of Anthonyella in the Lumbriculidae of Lake Baïkal. The presence of Ochridanus in these worms concurs with the almost complete absence of representatives of Radiophrya of which we have found but one species. A species of Metaradiophrya , a genus unknown to date from the Lumbricidae, was noticed in Glossoscolecidae. The different species of Ochridanus, Anthonyella, Metaradiophrya , and Radiophrya compose a very homogeneous group of Radiophryinae. The study of the ciliary rows and the cytoskeleton of 2 species of Juxtaradiophrya , parasitic in the Lumbriculidae of Ochrida, shows that, in the morphology of these ciliates, as well as in the same forms from Lake Baïkal, many transition characteristics exist between the Radiophryinae and Hoplitophryinae or Mesnilellinae. These 3 sub-families, with their undeniable genetic kinship give coherence to the family Hoplitophryidae.     

Les Invertébrés Planctoniques du Lac Volvi (Macédoine,Grèce). The Planktonic Invertebrates of Lake Volvi (Macedonia,Greece)

The planktonic invertebrates found in Lake Volvi are presented. There are 26 species of Rotifera, 1 Bivalve (larva), 13 Cladocera, 5 Copepoda, 1 Branchiura and 1 Diptera (larva). Many of these are new for the Greek fauna, though they are common in Europe. The discovery of some other species extends the knwown bounds of their geographical distribution in Greece. The lack of large-sized forms is considered to be due to strong predation by Alosa macedonica. (Pisces, Clupeidae). A comparison is given to the planktonic invertebrates of other Balkan lakes. There is a remarkable similarity with the fauna of Lake Doïrani.     

Phytoplancton du lac Ichkeul (Tunisie): Composition,structure et activité photosynthétique Phytoplankton of Lake Ichkeul (Tunesia): Composition,Structure and Photosynthetic Activity

Phytoplankton evolution was established during a study carried out on lake Ichkeul (Tunisia) from January 1985 to June 1988. During this period, the flora, composed of 51 species is distributed principally between Diatomophyceae and Chlorophyceae. Succesional changes of phytoplankton were often unpredictable and characterized by populations with monospecific trend. Photosynthetic activity and the parameters A_opt and I_K were studied regularly along the year 1985 by oxygen method (GOLTERMANN , 1969). The relations between phytoplankton composition and photosynthetic activity were discussed.     

Teneurs en éléments majeurs et traces de spirulines (Arthrospira platensis) originaires de France,du Tchad,du Togo,du Niger,du Mali,du Burkina-Faso et de République centrafricaine

Data on mineral elements in spirulinas being limited, we analyzed macrominerals and trace elements of samples from France and Africa. Spirulinas cultivated in France have a composition in macromineral elements similar to those of the literature. The entire contents of trace elements are low. Unlike marine cyanobacteria, they do not concentrate rare-earth elements. Spirulina harvested in Chad has high levels in macrominerals and trace elements, due to traditional drying and harvesting methods. Rare-earth element levels are attributed to this pollution and not to their concentration in spirulinas, because rare-earth element normalized profiles of spirulina are strictly parallel to those of ouadis mud and very different from those of ouadis water. Despite the sometimes high content of total As, normal water consumption in Chad presents no health problems. Spirulinas grown in Togo, Niger, Mali, Burkina-Faso and Central African Republic have chemical compositions similar to those of Chad spirulinas, but with a lower content of macromineral and trace elements, reflecting a lower mineral pollution. Rare-earth element normalized patterns dismiss an aeolian pollution and the pollution is rather of pedological origin. They show no toxicity problem except spirulinas from Burkina-Faso, whose Pb content is too high. The variability of composition of spirulinas can be largely attributed to the mineral pollution of the samples. Significant levels of rare-earth elements sometimes found in the literature reflect this pollution.     

Nouvelles découvertes de dents d’hominidés dans le membre Kaitio de la formation de Nachukui (1,65–1,9 Ma), Ouest du lac Turkana (Kenya)

New hominid teeth from the Kaitio member (1.65–1.9 Myr) in West Turkana (Kenya). New hominid teeth have been recovered from the archaeological sites of Kokiselei 1 and Naiyena Engol 1. These two sites are located in the west side of the Turkana Basin and belong to the Kaitio member of the Nachukui Formation. They are dated between 1.65-1.79 and 1.7-1.8 Myr respectively. The four teeth (left maxillary canine and first molar, right maxillary third molar and left mandibular third molar) discovered in Kokiselei 1 are attributed to Australopithecus boisei. The right mandibular first premolar found in Naiyena Engol 1 is referred to Homo sp. aff. ergaster. To cite this article: S. Prat et al., C. R. Palevol 2 (2003).     

Cristatopecten nov. gen. benoisti (Pectinidae, Bivalvia) du Chattien d'Aquitaine (France). Révision systématique et réflexions sur l'origine et l'évolution des Cristatopecten

The detailed study of a sample of “Pecten (Amussiopecten) benoisti” Cossmann and Peyrot (1914) from the Chattian outcrops of the Adour Basin, allowed to improve our knowledge of this species poorly known till now and to show its important ornamental variability. It follows that some nomenclatural points have been clarified at the generic level: we refute the attribution of this species to the genus Amussiopecten Sacco (1897) as used by authors—genus which was besides emended several times subsequently— and we propose its allocation to Cristatopecten nov. gen. Furthermore, this study allowed to remove the ambiguity existing originally as for the attribution of the species benoisti and burdigalensis to a same genus: our comparison of the latter two taxa shows that if benoisti has to be henceforth included in the new genus Cristatopecten (as its type species), burdigalensis (which is the type species of Amussiopecten) must be incorporated in the genus Flabellipecten Sacco (1897). The two genera Amussiopecten and Flabellipecten are therefore synonymous, as Depéret and Roman had already stated in 1910. The Cristatopecten from the Old World seem to be derived from a group of “Aequipecten” notably known in the Italian Rupelian, the group of “Aequipecten deletus” (Michelotti, 1861), of which we study here a sample from the Aquitaine Chattian. In the Aquitaine Basin, the Cristatopecten are represented, in the Chattian, by Cristatopecten benoisti (Cossmann and Peyrot, 1914); in the Lower Aquitanian, by C. praehaueri (Bongrain, Cahuzac and Freneix, 1994); in the Burdigalian-Langhian of the Saubrigues paleocanyon, by C. haueri (Michelotti, 1847) and C. miogallicus (Cossmann and Peyrot, 1914). During the whole Neogene, they spread and evolved in the Tethys and the Paratethys areas, and seem to have become extinct in the Pliocene with the disappearance of C. cristatus (Bronn, 1827), a species that we consider not as an Amusium s.s., but as the last representative of the Cristatopecten phylum.     

Réponses électroantennographiques de deux parasitoïdes Ichneumonidés,Diadromus pulchellus et D. collaris,aux odeurs de végétaux,du phytophage-hôte Acrolepiopsis assectella et du partenaire sexuel

Résumé Chez Diadromus pulchellus WSM et D. collaris Gr., Hyménoptères Ichneumonidés parasitoïdes spécialistes des nymphes d'A. assectella lépidoptère inféodé aux Allium, des EAG sont enregistrés en réponse à l'odeur du poireau sain ou attaqué par les larves du phytophage, odeurs actives par ailleurs sur leur comportement locomoteur (cinèses). Le thiosulfinate de dipropyle (Ti-P₂) très spécifique et abondant dans les Allium, et instable, est le mieux perçu par les deux parasitoïdes mais n'a aucun effet locomoteur chez D. pulchellus contrairement aux disulfures et thiosulfonates, plus stables et moins spécifiques. Les propriétés de l'acétate d'éthyle, actif sur l'antenne des deux parasitoïdes, et sur la locomotion de D. pulchellus expliqueraient en partie les activités biologiques du poireau attaqué sur ces parasitoïdes. Des EAG sont aussi obtenus chez les deux espèces avec l'odeur du chou et de composés soufrés plus ou moins spécifiques des Crucifères. Le thiocyanate de méthyle (TCN-M), le plus actif sur l'antenne et seul efficace sur le comportement locomoteur (de D. pulchellus), expliquerait en partie l'installation reconnue de D. collaris sur Plutella maculipennis spécialiste des Crucifères et rend celle de D. pulchelles vraisemblable.L'odeur des larves de dernier stade d'A. assectella est seule efficace sur l'antenne et la locomotion des femelles de D. pulchellus. Les mâles de ce dernier réagissent (EAG, locomotion) à des odeurs de cocons de l'hôte et particulièrement à ceux occupés par une femelle de leur espèce.     

Variabilité à court terme des propriétés physiques,chimiques et biologiques du Saguenay,fjord subarctique du Quebec (Canada)

Tidal variability of water mass characteristics has been assessed in the upper 100 metres of the Saguenay, a subarctic fjord in Québec, Canada. Temperature and salinity show a maximum variability in the 5-15 m layer in which vertical oscillations of a very sharp pycnocline are observed. Phosphates, nitrates and chlorophyll a are highly variable above this pycnocline during a tidal cycle, but dissolved oxygen content is remarkably stable in the whole water column. It is concluded that fluctuations of many variables in the subsurface waters might be large enough to hinder high rates of primary production.     

Ostracodes et incursions marines dans l’Holocène terminal du lac Retba (Cap Vert, Sénégal)

The study of marine incursions based on ostracods is carried out for the first time in the late Holocene, with core sediments of the Lac Retba edge. Twenty-four species are identified along the core; most of them are encountered in the Gulf of Guinea shelf and its adjacent lagoons. For the first time Buntonia olokundudui Reyment and Van Valen, Hermanites foveolata Omatsola and Soudanella africana Omatsola are recorded in Senegal. Four ostracods assemblages are evidenced along the core, corresponding to different stages of the lake evolution. Cyprideis nigeriensis Omatsola, Neomonoceratina iddoensis Omatsola and Aglaiocypris gambiensis Witte dominate the first assemblage; they indicate a lagoon slightly open to the sea and bordered with mangrove swamps under relatively humid climate conditions. The second association yields the most diversified ostracod fauna with C. nigeriensis, N. iddoensis and high proportion of reworked “marine species” which evidence a marine little gulf bordered by mangrove under a humid climate. The third, monospecific association (C. nigeriensis) is typical of a closed and hypersaline lagoon under dry climate conditions. An oligospecific association with C. nigeriensis, Pseudoconcha omatsolai Witte and very scarce reworked “marine species” occurs at the top of the core and characterises an open and hypersaline lagoon under arid climate conditions. Ostracods evidence two marine incursions. The first and the stronger one is dated here for the first time between 1420 and 1250 years B.P. The more recent is the weaker and is not yet dated. Evidence of the beginning of the Retba Lake closure towards 680 years B.P. appears at the top of the core, as indicated by high reduction of ostracods abundance, predominance of reticulate Cyprideis and disappearance of the “marine species”, while salts precipitated at the bottom of the lake.     

Etude ultrastructurale comparée du processus de dégradation de l'hémoglobine par P. berghei (Vincke et Lips, 1948) en fonction de l'état de maturité de la cellule hǒte1

By serial sectioning and 3D reconstruction we have been able to demonstrate that the type of system for hemoglobin digestion in two strains of Plasmodium berghei, N and RC, is dependent on the maturity of the host cell. In parasites growing in erythrocytes, both systems for the endocytosis of hemoglobin—micropinocytosis and the cytostomal system (i.e. a cytostome budding a cytostomal tube that releases food vacuoles)—are fully functional and produce a great quantity of residual pigment. Parasites growing in reticulocytes have a disrupted cytostomal system; no tube is formed and only food vacuoles are visible in their cytoplasm. Residual pigment is smaller in size and in quantity. The reduced quantity of pigment in reticulocytes is explained by our observation of the exocytosis of pigment. We propose a hypothesis that relates the process of degradation of hemoglobin to the maturity of the host cell and a possible mechanism of protection against chloroquine, a drug known for its affinity for malarial pigment.