Photosynthetic carbon assimilation in the blue-green alga Coccochloris peniocystis

Abstract. Cells of the blue-green alga Coccochloris peniocystis , grown at air levels of CO₂, were exposed to [^l4C]bicarbonate in the light for periods of 0.5 to 2.0 s followed by exposure to unlabelled bicarbonate for longer periods of time in the light. The kinetics of tracer movement during these pulse-chase experiments demonstrate that the principal mechanism of CO₂ fixation in this alga is the C₃-pathway although an appreciable amount of the C₄ acid aspartate is found as one of the initial products of photosynthesis. Degradation of the labelled aspartate revealed that after 20 s of illumination, over 95% of the radioactivity was located in the β-carboxyl of this C₄ acid. This alga possesses little, if any, capacity for either the enzymatic decarboxylation of C₄ acids or the regeneration of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) from pyruvate mediated by the enzyme pyruvate, P_i dikinase. These data further demonstrate the lack of a functional C₄-pathway in this alga.     

DISTRIBUTION AND PHYSIOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF BLUE-GREEN ALGAL NITROGEN FIXATION ALONG A THERMOGRADIENT1

The capacity of thermal algal-bacterial mats to fix nitrogen (N₂) was examined in an alkaline thermal stream, Rabbit Creek, of Yellowstone National Park. Nitrogenase activity and nitrogen-fixation rates of mat cores placed in serum bottles and incubated in situ were estimated by the acetylene-reduction technique. Active nitrogenase was not detected at 60 or 65 C in either the blue-green algal or bacterial undermat components of the mats. Acetylene was reduced by all mats ≤55 C along the thermogradient; mean fixation estimates for the mats ranged from 7 to 5,028 nmoles N₂ fixed · mg Chl a^?1· hr^?1. Maximum fixation occurred at 35 C in the stream; statistical comparison of mean rates ordered the thermogradient mats according to estimated activities: 35 > 40 > 30 > 50 ≥ 55 ≥ 45 C. Mats (≤40 C) dominated by species of Calothrix accounted for ca. 97% of the total nitrogen fixation observed in the stream; the remaining activity was associated with mats containing Mastigocladus laminosus Cohn. Light intensity significantly affected fixation rates of the Calothrix mats which responded in a linear fashion from 9–100% full sunlight (ca. 1,900 μEin · m^?2· sec^?1). Calothrix mats from 30 and 40 C had maximum nitrogenase activity at their growth temperature suggesting that nitrogen fixation along the thermogradient was optimally adapted to in situ temperatures.     

南亚热带不同营养水平水库的蓝藻组成与动态

2004年调查了广东省境内的新丰江水库和契爷石水库的蓝藻分布特征.结果表明:共检测到蓝藻18属,绝大多数为丝状体和群体种类.常见属有假鱼腥藻(Pseudanabaena)、湖生蓝丝藻(Limnothrix)、微囊藻(Microcystis)和蓝纤维藻(Dactylococcopsis).新丰江水库和契爷石水库蓝藻细胞密度分别为4～249和1 911～114 228 cells·ml-1,富营养化的契爷石水库蓝藻细胞密度比贫营养型的新丰江水库高出3个数量级;2座水库最高蓝藻细胞密度均出现在夏季,温度是引起2座水库蓝藻细胞密度的季节性变化的主要因素;在新丰江水库,微囊藻是优势蓝藻种类之一,相对丰度35%～97%,夏季细胞密度高于其它季节;在契爷石水库,虽然微囊藻细胞密度比新丰江水库高出1个数量级,但其相对丰度不超过3%;假鱼腥藻和湖生蓝丝藻是契爷石水库的优势蓝藻种类,多数情况下相对丰度超过50%;水体稳定性和由透明度主导的水体光照条件的差别可能是导致两座水库蓝藻由不同生活类型的种类占优势的主要原因.     

蓝藻门两新种蓝藻门两新种

报道了采自黑龙江省五大连池的蓝藻门2个新种：绿刺星球藻、雅致伪枝藻。     

GAS VACUOLE COLLAPSE IN MARINE OSCILLATORIA (TRICHODESMIUM) THIEBAUTII (CYANOPHYTA) AND THE EFFECT ON NITROGENASE ACTIVITY AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS1

Photosynthesis and nitrogenase activity (acetylene reduction) in Oscillatoria (Trichodesmium) thiebautii were significantly reduced after its gas vesicles were collapsed by pressurizing to 6·2 MPa (62 bars). The reduction in nitrogenase activity was observed with both intact and disrupted colonies, and under both aerobic and microaerobic conditions. It is unlikely, therefore, that the reduction in either process results solely from loss of gas diffusion pathways, and may simply originate from disturbance of the cellular architecture as gas vesicles are destroyed. Since nitrogenase activity of the samples was affected by gas vesicle collapse, the process presumably resides in the gas vacuolate organism (Oscillatoria) rather than in any associated bacteria which might be present.     

EARLY TOXIC EFFECTS OF ZINC ON PSII OF SYNECHOCYSTIS AQUATILIS F. AQUATILIS (CYANOPHYCEAE)1

Zinc toxicity on photosynthetic activity in cells of Synechocystis aquatilis f. aquatilis Sauvageau was investigated by monitoring Hill activity and fluorescence. The oxygen‐evolving activity decreased to about 80% of the initial value after exposure to 0.1 mM ZnSO₄ for 1 h. The PSII activity was inhibited by 40% in the presence of zinc concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 5.0 mM, suggesting that the metal effect is limited by zinc uptake. The fluorescence capacity (F_max–F/F_max) decreased from 0.57 to 0.35 and 0.20 in Zn‐treated cells for 15 and 60 min, respectively, thus providing evidence for rapid inactivation of electron transport at PSII. Zinc treatment promoted a rapid increase in PSII fluorescence that was counteracted by addition of 1,4‐benzoquinone, indicating that electron transfer at the reducing side of the PSII reaction center is arrested by zinc. Furthermore, a decline in the fluorescence yield could be observed after 1 h of zinc treatment as well as when Zn‐treated cells were excited in presence of 3‐(3′,4′‐dichlorophenyl)‐1,1‐dimethylurea. Under these conditions, zinc did not affect energy transfer from phycobilisomes to PSII, and the gradual quenching of PSII fluorescence may be due to a decrease in electron flow on the donor side of PSII. However, the 20% increase in the minimal fluorescence intensity (F_o) in parallel to the absence of changes in the maximal fluorescence intensity (F_max), observed in the first hour of zinc treatment, could also suggest a metal‐induced decline in the energy transfer from PSII‐chl a antenna to the PSII reaction center.     

Sorption of metals by extracellular polymers from the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa fo. flos-aquae strain C3-40

The sorption of cadmium (II), copper (II), lead (II),manganese (II), and zinc (II) by purified capsularpolysaccharide from the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosafo. flos-aquae strainC3-40 was examined by four methods: equilibriumdialysis, metal removal from solution as detected byvoltammetry, metal accumulation by capsule-containingalginate beads, and calorimetry. The polysaccharide'ssaturation binding capacities for these metals rangedfrom 1.2 to 4 mmol of metal g^-1 of capsule, whichcorresponds to 1 metal equivalent per 2 to 4saccharide subunits of the polymer. Competitionbetween paired metals was tested with simultaneous andsequential additions of metal. Cadmium (II) andlead (II), as well as lead (II) and zinc (II), competedrelatively equally and reciprocally for polymerbinding sites. In contrast, manganese (II) stronglyinhibited the binding of cadmium (II) and lead (II), butitself was not substantially inhibited by either theprior or simultaneous adsorption of cadmium (II) or lead (II).The data are interpreted with respect to overlap ofbinding sites and possibilities of altered polymerconformation or solvation. Calorimetric studies oflead (II) and cadmium (II) association reactions withthe polysaccharide suggest that the enthalpies aresmall and that the reactions may be driven by entropy.     

Phycological expertise in geological applications

Our knowledge about fossil algae has been biased for a long time towards groups with calcified tissues such as dasyclads and crustose rhodophytes. This picture has recently begun to change owing to the growing number of discoveries of silicified microbial fossils and fossil microbial endoliths. There is good evidence that both groups contain a large proportion of photosynthetic organisms, particularly algae. Silicified microbial fossils are best known from the Precambrian strata, while microbial endoliths, which apparently evolved during middle to late Precambrian times are common throughout the Phanerozoic including the present. Because of the small size of these fossils, it is possible to study and morphometrically evaluate entire populations rather than individual specimens or body fragments. Thus, we are able to approach fossil taxa using largely biological rather than strictly paleontological criteria and to apply interpretations and reconstructions of biological species. Phycologists entering this field can contribute to the interpretation of such fossils by applying comparisons with modern algae, their life cycles, cellular organization, and cell division patterns. However, they have to learn to deal with post-mortem degradation and diagenetic changes, and to recognize algal remains from mineral features that surround and often obliterate the fossils. This work is often similar to that of a detective or coroner where the use of intuition and imagination is just as dangerous as it is necessary. Detection of microfossils between and within single carbonate grains in otherwise unfossiliferous rocks can provide valuable information for applied geology including petroleum exploration.