Stable nuclear transformation of the diatom Chaetoceros sp.

A nuclear transformation system for the centric diatom Chaetoceros sp. has been established using two plasmids pTpfcp/nat and pTpNR/green fluorescent protein (GFP) that had been used for Thalassiosira pseudonana transformation. These contain the nourseothricin resistance gene (nat) with the fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c binding protein (fcp) promoter/terminator from T. pseudonana and the enhanced green fluorescent protein gene (egfp), with the nitrate reductase (NR) promoter/terminator from T. pseudonana, respectively. Transformants were recovered in the presence of the antibiotic nourseothricin. One to four copies of both nat and egfp genes were integrated into genomic DNA of the transformants. Transformation efficiency was 1.5–6.0 transformants per 10⁸ cells. This work is the first report of stable genetic transformation of Chaetoceros, which is important as not only a constituent member of marine ecosystem but also feed for aquaculture.     

Taxonomic revision of three diatoms found in Lake Malawi: Afrocymbella brunii (Fricke) comb. nov., Afrocymbella rossii (Kociolek & Stoermer) comb. nov., and Aulacoseira euareolata (O.Müller) comb. nov. et nom. nov

Based on epilithic diatom samples collected from the rocky littoral zone of Lake Malawi (102 diatom taxa belonging to 34 genera were listed in the Supporting Information) we proposed the transfer of three taxa to new genera. Afrocymbella brunii (Fricke) comb. nov. was transferred from Gomphonema because of its dorsiventral valve and its transapically elongated dorsal stigma. Afrocymbella rossii (Kociolek & Stoermer) comb. nov. was also transferred from Gomphocymbella, which is actually a synonym of Gomphonema. Aulacoseira euareolata (O.Müller) comb. nov. et nom. nov. was transferred from Melosira because of the presence of linking spines and mantle areolae, and its specific epithet was replaced because of homonymy with Aulacoseira areolata Moisseeva.     

EFFECT OF SILICATE LIMITATION ON VALVE MORPHOLOGY IN THALASSIOSIRA AND COSCINODISCUS (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE)1

Coscinodiscus radiatus Ehrenb. and Thalassiosira eccentrica (Ehrenb.) Cleve were grown in a silicate-limited chemostat at silicate concentrations below 1 μg-atoms · l^?1. The resulting abnormal valves of C. radiatus lacked a thickened ring around the foramina; their pore membranes were thinner and their loculi shallower than those in normal cells. Abnormal valves of T. eccentrica had a fasciculate areolae pattern; they lacked a silica covering over the foramina and some tangential areolae walls. Neither abnormal valve could be termed a new species.     

Assessment of Water Pollution using Diatom Community Structure and Species Distribution — A Case Study in a Tropical River Basin

A study on biological assessment of water pollution using diatom community structure and species distribution was carried out in the Linggi River Basin, Malaysia which was polluted by various urban, industrial and agricultural wastes. A total of 86 diatom taxa belonging to 21 genera were recorded from all eight sampling stations located in the basin, of which 70 species were found on artificial substrates; the remaining 16 species were recorded exclusively on natural substrates. The number of diatom species observed between the stations varied from 22-47 species. The dominant diatom species in decreasing order of abundance were Eunotia vanheurckii, Nitzschia palea, Achnanthes saxonica, Gomphonema parvulum and Achnanthes minutissima. The most common clean water species were Achnanthes minutissima, A. linearis and Synedra rumpens. The most tolerant species were Nitzschia palea followed by Gomphonema parvulum and Pinnularia braunii. Eunotia vanheurckii and Navicula cryptocephala occurred in high densities at both unpolluted and polluted stations and can be considered as the common facultative or indifferent species. Although a large number of species were recorded at the unpolluted stations, equivalent number of species were also found at the moderately polluted stations. However, the number of species was reduced at grossly polluted stations. Nevertheless, a marked variation in species association exists between the unpolluted and polluted stations, but not among the polluted stations to distinguish the type and degree of pollution.     

The chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes of two Gomphonema parvulum (Bacillariophyta) environmental isolates from South Carolina (United States) and Virginia (United States)

Gomphonema parvulum is a cosmopolitan freshwater diatom that is used as an indicator in water quality biomonitoring. In this study, we report the culturing of two geographically separated isolates from southeastern North America, their morphology, and the sequencing and assembly of their mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes. Morphologically, both strains fit G. parvulum sensu lato, but the frustules from a protected habitat in South Carolina were smaller than those cited in the historic data of this species from the same location as well as a second culture from Virginia. Phylogenetic analyses using the rbcL gene placed both within a clade with G. parvulum. Genetic markers, including full chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes and the nuclear small subunit rRNA gene region were assembled from each isolate. The organellar genomes of the two strains varied slightly in size due to small differences in intergenic regions with chloroplast genomes of 121,035 bp and 121,482 bp and mitochondrial genomes of 34,639 bp and 34,654 bp. The intraspecific pairwise identities of the chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes of these two isolates were 97.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Multigene phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a close relationship between G. parvulum, Gomphoneis minuta, and Didymosphenia geminata.     

Predicting diatom communities at the genus level for the rapid biological assessment of rivers

1. Diatoms were sampled in the spring of 1994 and the autumn of 1995 at 137 pristine or near-pristine reference sites on large and small streams at various altitudes in eastern New South Wales and Victoria. Scrapings were taken from five firm substrata across a range of microhabitat conditions at each site on each occasion. For each substratum, 100 valves were identified to genus level. 2. Multivariate statistical models were constructed to predict the probability of occurrence of each genus at a given site under near-pristine conditions on the basis of physical features of the site that are not affected by human activity. Model predictions were compared with the flora observed at the reference sites and at 55 test sites affected by varying degrees of human disturbance. 3. Test sites were characterized more by the presence of genera not predicted by the model than by the absence of predicted genera. The degree of departure from model predictions was related mainly to increasing alkalinity, electrical conductivity, hardness and pH of river water. We therefore conclude that the main effect of human activity on the composition of diatom communities in the rivers of coastal south-eastern Australia has been to increase genus richness through enrichment with alkaline salts. 4. The models did not perform as well as similar models applied to river macroinvertebrates at the family level, perhaps because of greater temporal variability in diatom communities and differences in the environmental variables to which diatoms and macroinvertebrates respond. Means of improving the current models are discussed.     

STRUCTURE,LIFE HISTORY AND SYSTEMATICS OF RHOICOSPHENIA (BACILLARIOPHYTA). I. THE VEGETATIVE CELL OF RH. CURVATA1

Rhoicosphenia Grun. has been placed by some authors in the monoraphid group with Achnanthes Bory and Cocconeis Ehrenb., and by others near Gomphonema Ehrenb. In order to clarify the systematic position of the genus, the morphology and anatomy of the vegetative cells of Rh. curvata (Kütz.) Grun. were investigated using light and electron microscopy. The structure and formation of the two types of valve are described, and the heterovalvy shown to be of a different type from that of the monoraphids; on the basis of raphe, valve and girdle structure a close relationship between these and Rhoicosphenia is unlikely. Rhoicosphenia shows many resemblances to Gomphonema but the types of pore occlusion present, coupled with apparently slight differences in the mucilage-secreting structures and the girdle, suggest that classification in the same family is unwise. The cryptic asymmetry of the valves, and in particular of the raphe system, is noted and explained with reference to their formation; with respect to this asymmetry two configurations of the valves can occur (named cis and trans types) and the distribution of these in raphid genera is discussed briefly. In view of the lack of evidence in raphid diatoms supporting a classification of bands into copulae and pleurae, it is recommended that this practice be suspended.     

Phytoplankton ecology of the Lake of Menteith,Scotland

The results discussed in this paper represent the first seasonal ecological study carried out on the phytoplankton of the Lake of Menteith. All measured nutrients reached maximum levels during the winter, with silicate showing particularly high concentrations (up to 85 µg at Si l^–1). During the summer period phosphate, nitrate and silicate showed almost complete exhaustion in surface waters. The lake water was consistently alkaline, never falling below pH 7, while the alkalinity ranged from 20 to 24 mg CaCO₃ l^–1. Generally, the nutrient status of the main inflow had a rapid effect on the water quality of the lake.The region of the lake under investigation showed no thermal stratification at any period of the year, although continuous thermal gradients were recorded in the winter. The continual circulation of the water mass probably prevented oxygen saturation from falling below 77% even following a large phytoplankton bloom and subsequent decomposition.From an examination of net phytoplankton samples the Lake of Menteith could be described as blue-green or blue-green/diatom in nature. From the quantitative study, large pulses of Melosira, Asterionella and Fragilaria were recorded in the spring. The disappearance of the species appears to be related to silicate limitation. The summer growth of Asterionella may have been promoted by a nitrogen source other than nitrate and nitrite, both of which were reduced to critical levels. This alternative source of combined nitrogen may have been contributed by nitrogen-fixing algae in the lake. Three species of Anabaena were recorded, all of which produced large populations during the year.Department of Botany, The University of GlasgowPresent Address: Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Sulaimaniyah, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq     

Growth characteristics of the diatoms Pseudonitzschia pungens and P. fraudulenta exposed to ultraviolet radiation

Interest in the biology of planktonic, chain-forming Pseudonitzschia species has grown recently after the discovery of toxin production in Pseudonitzschia pungens and related taxa, following the outbreak of shellfish toxicity in Canada in 1987. As part of a broader study on the effects of enhanced ultraviolet light on the growth of bloom-forming phytoplankton, we have examined the growth rates and production of the toxin domoic acid and two additional chemicals [bacillariolides I and II] by Pseudonitzschia pungens varieties and Pseudonitzschia fraudulenta from Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Growth of P. fraudulenta is significantly inhibited by enhanced UV, P. pungens var. pungens shows slight inhibition, and P. pungens var. multiseries is unaffected. Production of bacillariolides I and II by P. pungens var. multiseries is similar in enhanced and deleted UV light. Tolerance of UV light by P. pungens var. multiseries appears to be acquired, and persistent. If ambient UV light continues to increase as a result of global ozone depletion, one may expect UV-resistant taxa such as P. pungens var. multiseries to become more prominent in coastal phytoplankton communities.