A survey of epiphytic dinoflagellates from the coastal waters of the island of Hawai‘i

Three hundred and sixty-nine macroalgal and non-algal samples were collected from six coastal sites around the island of Hawai‘i on a biweekly basis over a 1-year period to ascertain (1) the presence of potentially toxigenic benthic dinoflagellates, and (2) substrate and environmental preferences of the dinoflagellates. Twenty-six genera/species of dinoflagellates were encountered including the (potentially) toxigenic species Amphidinium sp., Coolia monotis, Gambierdiscus sp., Ostreopsis ovata, Prorocentrum concavum, Prorocentrum hoffmannianum, Prorocentrum lima, and Prorocentrum mexicanum. Twenty of the species are being reported for the first time as present in Hawaiian coastal waters. There was some evidence of macroalgal host preference (e.g., C. monotis on Tolypiocladia glomerulata), although host morphology preferences was greater (e.g., Gambierdiscus sp., and P. lima on filamentous turfs; O. sp. 1 on sheet-like macroblades). While some dinoflagellate groups were significantly correlated with nutrient concentrations (e.g., total dinoflagellates with nitrate + nitrite and phosphate concentrations), others were not (e.g., Gambierdiscus sp., Prorocentrum emarginatum, P. lima, and Sinophysis microcephalus). The presence of several potentially toxigenic dinoflagellate species in Hawai‘i merits future study on possible impacts of these dinoflagellates on coastal food webs and human health.     

东海原甲藻（Prorocentrum donghaiense）和链状亚历山大藻（Alexandrium catenella）对模拟食物链物质传递的影响

研究了东海原甲藻的基本营养组成,并就赤潮密度下的东海原甲藻（Prorocentrum donghaiense）和链状亚历山大藻（Alexandrium catenella）在单一和混合情况下对赤潮藻→卤虫模拟食物链物质传递的影响进行了探讨。结果表明：与其它饵料微藻相比,东海原甲藻必需氨基酸中的苯丙氨酸、赖氨酸和组氨酸含量明显偏低。东海原甲藻单独投喂时,卤虫对其的总物质转化效率随着藻密度的增加呈现先逐渐增加再逐渐降低的趋势。而当不同密度的东海原甲藻分别与一种硅藻小新月菱形藻(Nitzschia closterium)混合投喂时,随东海原甲藻密度的增加,卤虫选择性地增加对东海原甲藻的摄食,而降低对小新月菱形藻的摄食,并且其总物质转化效率逐渐降低。暴露于链状亚历山大藻藻液,卤虫体重减轻,且在其体内未检测到叶绿素a,表明卤虫未摄食该藻。当链状亚历山大藻藻细胞重悬液和去藻过滤液分别与小新月菱形藻或东海原甲藻混合时,卤虫对后两株藻的摄食量和总物质转化效率均有所降低。因此,在大规模赤潮发生时,东海原甲藻和链状亚历山大藻可能分别对浮游动物的营养和存活带来不利影响,并影响物质沿食物链的传递。     

Modeling the role of viral disease in recurrent phytoplankton blooms

The recurrent pattern of some phytoplankton species can vary considerably from year to year. Recent experimental work suggests that the contamination of algal cells by viruses can serve as a regulatory mechanism in bloom dynamics. A simple trophic model is proposed that includes virus-induced mortality, and it mimics the actual bloom patterns of several species. The model results are compared to actual data by a combination of nonlinear forecasting techniques.     

Attempts to model the bloom dynamics of Pyrodinium, a tropical toxic dinoflagellate

For the first time, several models have been used to aid in the understanding of the bloom dynamics of Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum, the major causal organism of toxic algal blooms in Manila Bay and several areas in the tropical world. The complex life cycle of Pyrodinium includes the formation of cysts that settle at the sediments, which can serve as the inoculum for the next bloom.The seasonal variation of temperature and salinity reflects the combined effects of convection and water column stability, which can control vertical movement of plankton and other parameters essential to its growth. The significance of wind forcing appears to be related to the potential to resuspend cysts. In the absence of wind, tidal currents in the inner part of the bay may be too weak to induce resuspension. The addition of wind results in a significant increase in bottom current velocity. Off Cavite at the southeast, bottom velocity is enhanced by orbital motion due to waves, one of the reasons why sediments off this area are dominated by sandy material. The strong vertical mixing of the water column at depths of less than 10 m may influence nutrient and consequently, plankton populations.The wave field during the southwest monsoon indicates that its contribution to the bottom velocity dominates in this area of the bay.Bloom simulations using combined bio-physical parameters show that direction of advection is almost always along wind direction. The dispersal distances increases if the Pyrodinium cells are found higher in the water column. For cells originating from southeastern (Cavite) sources, the direction of transport is slightly towards the north. In either case, the formation of cysts after a bloom is adjacent to the northern area (Pampanga) for blooms originating from the western side (Bataan) and along the eastern side (Parañaque–Manila) for blooms originating from the southeastern side (Cavite). Comparison with a few records of bloom occurrences in Manila Bay shows some consistent features. Reports of these blooms also showed that they occurred almost always during spring tides. There appears to be two main systems for bloom formation: one fed by cyst beds in the west (Bataan) which is advected along the west–northwest coast (Bataan–Bulacan) while the other one is fed by the southeast (Cavite) cyst beds that dominates in the east-southeast (Parañaque–Cavite) area.     

Seasonal dynamics of amino acids in two small Siberian reservoirs dominated by prokaryotic and eukaryotic phytoplankton

The comparison of the dynamics of phytoplankton biomass and total amino acid composition was made for two water bodies: in one the phytoplankton were dominated by prokaryotes (i.e., there was a bloom of cyanobacteria) and by eukaryotic microalgae in the other. The dynamics of phytoplankton biomass and of total amino acid composition of water were investigated during the vegetation season. It was found that the only factor that significantly changed the percentages of amino acids in water was the bloom of cyanobacteria in the blooming water body. During the bloom of cyanobacteria, the absolute and relative content of the Leu-Glu group increased, while the contents of other acids generally dropped. Before and after the bloom, no significant variations in the total amino acid composition were recorded. In the reservoir where eukaryotic microalgae dominated, no significant variations in amino acid composition were recorded during the season.     

东海原甲藻(Prorocentrum donghaiense)和链状亚历山大藻(Alexandrium catenella)对模拟食物链物质传递的影响

研究了东海原甲藻的基本营养组成,并就赤潮密度下的东海原甲藻(Prorocentrum donghaiense)和链状亚历山大藻(Alexandrium catenella)在单一和混合情况下对赤潮藻→卤虫模拟食物链物质传递的影响进行了探讨。结果表明:与其它饵料微藻相比,东海原甲藻必需氨基酸中的苯丙氨酸、赖氨酸和组氨酸含量明显偏低。东海原甲藻单独投喂时,卤虫对其的总物质转化效率随着藻密度的增加呈现先逐渐增加再逐渐降低的趋势。而当不同密度的东海原甲藻分别与一种硅藻小新月菱形藻(Nitzschia closterium)混合投喂时,随东海原甲藻密度的增加,卤虫选择性地增加对东海原甲藻的摄食,而降低对小新月菱形藻的摄食,并且其总物质转化效率逐渐降低。暴露于链状亚历山大藻藻液,卤虫体重减轻,且在其体内未检测到叶绿素a,表明卤虫未摄食该藻。当链状亚历山大藻藻细胞重悬液和去藻过滤液分别与小新月菱形藻或东海原甲藻混合时,卤虫对后两株藻的摄食量和总物质转化效率均有所降低。因此,在大规模赤潮发生时,东海原甲藻和链状亚历山大藻可能分别对浮游动物的营养和存活带来不利影响,并影响物质沿食物链的传递。     

Rising temperatures may increase growth rates and microcystin production in tropical Microcystis species

Rising temperatures (1.4–6 °C) due to climate change have been predicted to increase cyanobacterial bloom occurrences in temperate water bodies; however, the impacts of warming on tropical cyanobacterial blooms are unknown. We examined the effects of four different temperatures on the growth rates and microcystin (MC) production of five tropical Microcystis isolates (M. ichthyoblabe (two strains), M. viridis, M. flos-aquae, and M. aeruginosa). The temperature treatments are based on current temperature range in Singapore's reservoirs (27 °C and 30 °C), as well as projected mean (33 °C) and maximum temperatures (36 °C) based on tropical climate change estimates of +6 °C in air temperature. Increasing temperatures did not significantly affect the maximum growth rates of most Microcystis strains. Higher growth rates were only observed in one M. ichthyoblabe strain at 33 °C and M. flos-aquae at 30 °C where both were isolated from the same reservoir. MC-RR and MC-LR were produced in varying amounts by all four species of Microcystis. Raised temperatures of 33 °C were found to boost total MC cell quota for three Microcystis strains although further increase to 36 °C led to a sharp decrease in total MC cell quota for all five Microcystis strains. Increasing temperature also led to higher MC-LR:MC-RR cell quota ratios in M. ichthyoblabe. Our study suggests that higher mean water temperatures resulting from climate change will generally not influence growth rates of Microcystis spp. in Singapore except for increases in M. ichthyoblabe strains. However, toxin cell quota may increase under moderate warming scenarios depending on the species.     

Lysis of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (Cyanobacterium) by a bacterium Bacillus cereus

A phytoplankton-lytic (PL) bacterium, Bacillus cereus, capable of lysing the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos-aquae was isolated from Lake Dianchi of Yunnan province, China. This bacterium showed lytic activities against a wide range of cyanobacteria/algae, including A. flos-aquae, Microcystis viridis, Microcystis wesenbergi, Microcystis aeruginosa, Chlorella ellipsoidea, Oscillatoria tenuis, Nostoc punctiforme, Anabaena flos-aquae, Spirulina maxima, and Selenastrum capricornutum. Chlorophyll a contents, phycocyanin contents, and photosynthetic activities of the A. flos-aquae decreased evidently in an infected culture for a period. Bacterium B. cereus attacked rapidly A. flos-aquae cells by cell-to-cell contact mechanism. It was shown that the lysis of A. flos-aquae began with the breach of the cyanobacterial cell wall, and the cyanobacterial cell appeared abnormal in the presence of the PL bacterium. Moreover, transmission electron microscope examinations revealed that a close contact between the bacterium and the cyanobacterium was necessary for lysis. Some slime extrusions produced from B. cereus assisted the bacterial cells to be in close association with and lyse the cyanobacterial cells. These findings suggested that this bacterium could play an important role in controlling the Aphanizomenon blooms in freshwaters.     

小定鞭藻毒素的分离与鉴定

从大量死鱼的鱼池中收集分离出小定鞭藻Ｐｒｙｍｎｅｓｉｕｍｐｏｒｖｕｍ的毒株,并在实验室成功地进行了单种培养,当温度２３℃,光照６００－８００ｌｘ盐度约１２—１６‰左右时,该藻在海水及人工海水培养基中均生长良好,在对数生长末期到平衡期溶血毒素活性最高。从藻细胞及浓缩的培养液中提取出二种毒素：溶血毒素（Ｈａｅｍｏｌｙｔｉｃｔｏｘｉｎｓ）和鱼毒素（Ｉｃｈｔｈｙｏｔｏｘｉｎｓ）。用新鲜牛血球测定了溶血毒素活性;用孔雀鱼测定了鱼毒素活性。用部分纯化的溶血毒素经元素分析、红外光谱、核磁共振及ＦＡＢ质谱测定,结果显示该藻溶血毒素可能是一个糖脂。     

Estimating the economic costs of algal blooms in the Canadian Lake Erie Basin

Over the past two decades there has been a re-emergence of regular harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie due to increasing phosphorus loading, mainly from non-point agricultural sources. The Canadian and United States governments have jointly agreed to reduce phosphorus loadings to the lake in order to control the extent and severity of the blooms. Citizens on both sides of the border face a number of economic costs, both market and non-market, as a result of the blooms. This study values these costs for the Canadian portion of the Lake Erie basin economy using standard economic approaches that are widely applied within the world of cost-benefit analysis. The results suggest that algal blooms will impose equivalent annual costs equal to $272 million in 2015 prices over a 30-year period if left unchecked. The largest market costs will be imposed on the tourism industry ($110 million in equivalent annual costs) and the largest non-market costs will be borne by recreational users and those who place inherent value on the lake’s quality ($115 million in equivalent annual costs). Management action to reduce phosphorus loadings is found to be justified on economic grounds if the 30-year net present value of the reduction program is less than $1294 million (2015 Canadian dollars).