Habitat suitability of the Wadden Sea for restoration of Zostera marina beds

A conceptual model is proposed, describing potential Zostera marina habitats in the Wadden Sea, based on reported data from laboratory, mesocosm and field studies. Controlling factors in the model are dynamics, degree of desiccation, turbidity, nutrients and salinity. A distinction has been made between a higher and a lower zone of potential habitats, each suitable for different morphotypes of Z. marina. The model relates the decline of Z. marina in the Wadden Sea to increased sediment and water dynamics, turbidity, drainage of sediments (resulting in increased degree of desiccation) and total nutrient loads during the twentieth century. The upper and lower delineation of both the higher and the lower zone of potential Z. marina habitats appear to be determined by one or a combination of several of these factors. Environmental changes in one of these factors will therefore influence the borderlines of the zones. The lower zone of Z. marina will be mainly affected by increased turbidity, sediment dynamics, degree of desiccation during low tide and nutrient load. The higher zone will be affected by increases in water and sediment dynamics, desiccation rates and nutrient loads. Potential Z. marina habitats are located above approx. –0.80 m mean sea level (when turbidity remains at the same level as in the early 1990s) in sheltered, undisturbed locations, and preferably where some freshwater influence is present. At locations with a high, near-marine, salinity, the nutrient load has to be low to allow the growth of Z. marina. The sediment should retain enough water during low tide to keep the plants moist. Our results suggest that the return of Z. marina beds within a reasonable time-scale will require not only suitable habitat conditions, but also revegetation measures, as the changes in the environment resulting from the disappearance of Z. marina may impede its recovery, and the natural import of propagules will be unlikely. Furthermore, the lower zone of Z. marina may require a genotype that is no longer found in the Wadden Sea. Received: 26 April 1999 / Received in revised form: 15 October 1999 / Accepted: 16 October 1999     

IMMUNOLOCALIZATION OF CENTRIN IN OXYRRHIS MARINA (DINOPHYCEAE)1

A new polyclonal antibody was raised against centrin isolated from the flagellate green alga Spermatozopsis similis (Chlorophyta; anti-SSC). It stains by immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy well-known reference systems for centrin like the nucleus–basal body connectors in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Chlorophyta) and the system II fibers (rhizoplasts) of Scherffelia dubia (Chlorophyta). In addition, it recognizes in immunoblots a single 20-kDa protein in isolated cytoskeletons of Spermatozopsis similis and Tetraselmis striata (Chlorophyta) as well as purified centrin isolated from Tetraselmis striata. Using this antibody, centrin was localized in whole cells and isolated cytoskeletons of Oxyrrhis marina Dujardin (Dinophyceae) by immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy. In the flagellar apparatus of O. marina, five different structures were antigenic. Four short fibers (connectives 1–4) link the basal bodies to the four major fibrous flagellar roots, which do not cross-react with anti-centrin. The most prominent of the labeled structures (connective 5), a crescent-shaped fiber, extends from the flagellar canal of the transverse flagellum along the base of the tentacle to the flagellar canal of the longitudinal flagellum, interconnecting the distal parts of the microtubular roots/bands in the basal apparatus. For most of its length, it underlies and is connected to a transversely oriented subamphiesmal microtubular band. In immunoblot analyses, anti-SSC recognizes only a single 20-kDa protein in cytoskeletons of O. marina. Functional and phylogenetic aspects of centrin-containing structures in dinoflagellates are discussed.     

Sodium and potassium relations of Spergularia marina following N and P deprivation: results of short-term growth studies

In this, we consider the coordination of plant growth and ion acquisition, reporting the short-term adjustments of growth and K⁺ and Na⁺ relations which follow when plants are subject to a sudden deprivation of N and P. The plant used for the experiments, Spergularia marina (L.) Grieseb., is a small coastal halophyte, and the growth medium was 0.2 × modified seawater. By considering nutrients whose availability has not been changed, we report on an aspect of organismal integration which has received little attention either experimentally or in mathematical models. The studies are limited to the first 60 h after N and P deprivation in order to consider changes that, if they are not primary responses, are not temporally remote, passive adjustments. For growth analyses, plants were used approximately 30 days after germination and 16 days after transfer to solution culture. Random harvests were made at hourly invervals, and after 12 h, one-half of the plants were transferred to cultures without N or P. Tissue analyses were used to calculate relative growth rates, relative accumulation rates and net uptake rates. For comparison, isotope uptake studies using ⁴²K⁺ and ²²Na⁺ were conducted at 12, 36 and 60 h after deprivation. The effects on growth and biomass allocation were very rapid, detectable within 13 h. K⁺ transport also responded quickly, and from the beginning of the study, there was essentially no net translocation of K⁺ to the shoot. Isotope studies confirmed the responsiveness, with translocation reduced 33 and 90% after 12 and 36 h, respectively. Though Na⁺ adjustments were slower, they were coordinated with growth such that tissue concentrations in the N and P-deprived plants were comparable to those in the controls. We conclude that N and C are insufficient elements on which to build mathematical models useful to environmental physiologists. At a minimum, the incorporation of K⁺ relations in growth models would both allow the development of the osmotic potential needed to drive cell expansion, and provide a means to probe –experimentally as well as mathematically – the coordinating mechanisms of plant growth and resource management.     

PHYLOGENETIC AFFINITIES OF THE SARCINOCHRYSIDALES AND CHRYSOMERIDALES (HETEROKONTA) BASED ON ANALYSES OF MOLECULAR AND COMBINED DATA1

Small-subunit ribosomal RNA nucleotide sequences were inferred for Giraudyopsis stellifera Dangeard (Chrysomeridales), as well as for Pulvinaria sp. and Sarcinochrysis marina Geitler (Sarcinochrysidales,). Phylogenetic analyses of the molecular data indicate that the former is weakly related to the Phaeophyceae/Xanthophyceae clade, whereas the latter two have affinities to the Pelagophyceae, and the Sarcinochrysidales sensu stricto is transferred to this class. A recent study proposed that the Pelagophyceae belongs to a larger assemblage of chromophytic species characterized by reduced flagellar apparatuses. Although the flagellar apparatus characterizing the Sarcinochrysidales is reduced relative to the Chysomeridaels and some other chromophytes, it is the most complicated to be associated with “the reduced flagellar apparatus” lineage. Cladistic analyses of a traditional data set (largely ultrastructural features of the flagellar apparatus) and a combined traditional/molecular data set were used to assess the evolutionary trends of reduction in the flagellar apparatus within the heterokont chromophytes.     

海洋卡盾藻(香港株)溶血毒素的提取和分离

海洋卡盾藻(Chattonella marina)是我国南方沿海主要的鱼毒性赤潮生物,近年来由该藻形成的赤成已造成多起近岸养殖鱼类大量死亡的事件。为了弄清该藻毒素的基本成分特征,本文研究了室内培养条件下海洋卡盾藻(香港株)溶血毒素的提取方法,观察了溶血毒素对红细胞的溶血过程,采用薄层色谱法对溶血成分进行了初步分析。结果表明:海洋卡盾藻藻细胞的超声波破碎最适条件为功率400W,4℃下处理15min;通过显微镜观察,证实提取的毒素对血红细胞膜具破坏作用;海洋卡盾藻合成的溶血毒素至少含有4种组分,其中1种可能为为脂类,3种为糖脂类。该研究成果有助于我国今后进一步开展鱼毒性赤潮生物毒素的研究。     

Attachment and detachment of bacteria on surfaces with tunable and switchable wettability

Controlling accumulations of unwanted biofilms requires an understanding of the mechanisms that organisms use to interact with submerged substrata. While the substratum properties influencing biofilm formation are well studied, those that may lead to cellular or biofilm detachment are not. Surface-grafted stimuli-responsive polymers, such as poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) release attached cells upon induction of environmentally-triggered phase changes. Altering the physicochemical characteristics of such polymeric systems for systematically studying release, however, can alter the phase transition. The physico-chemical changes of thin films of PNIPAAm grafted from initiator-modified self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of ω-substituted alkanethiolates on gold can be altered by changing the composition of the underlying SAM, without affecting the overlying polymer. This work demonstrates that the ability to tune such changes in substratum physico-chemistry allows systematic study of attachment and release of bacteria over a large range of water contact angles. Such surfaces show great promise for studying a variety of interactions at the biointerface. Understanding of the source of this tunability will require further studies into the heterogeneity of such films and further investigation of interactions beyond those of water wettability.     

高等植物大叶藻研究进展及其对海洋沉水生活的适应

综述和讨论了目前对海洋沉水植物大叶藻的研究进展 ,主要包括 :(1 )形态解剖结构特点 ,(2 )基本生理研究 ,(3 )耐盐机理 ,(4)生存限制因子 ,(5 )问题与展望。其中着重讨论了大叶藻与海洋沉水生活相适应的一些特点 ,特别是其对海水盐度的适应机理。     

汞胁迫对白骨壤(Avicennia marina)幼苗生理生态的影响

为了解红树植物的重金属抗性机制,对白骨壤(Avicennia marina)幼苗进行不同浓度Hg2+(1、5、10、50、100 mg·L-1)的胁迫实验,测定并分析了Hg2+胁迫对白骨壤幼苗叶片的光合作用和抗氧化酶活性的影响.结果表明:叶片净光合速率随着胁迫时间的延长而降低,高浓度(≥150 mg·L-1)Hg2+胁迫下叶片的净光合速率低于中低浓度胁迫,且高浓度胁迫的叶片净光合速率在48 h后快速下降;叶片净光合速率与胞间二氧化碳浓度呈极显著负相关,叶绿素含量随Hg2+浓度的增加而降低.气孔导度在不同浓度胁迫下反应不同,低浓度Hg2+对白骨壤幼苗光合的影响可能是气孔因素,中高浓度Hg2+对白骨壤幼苗光合作用的抑制主要是非气孔因素.低浓度Hg2+胁迫,白骨壤幼苗叶片SOD、POD活性升高,表现了一定的抗逆性,而高浓度表现为抑制作用,基本在100 mg·L-1 Hg2+胁迫下活性达到最低值.说明Hg2+可以抑制白骨壤叶片的光合活性,高浓度Hg2+胁迫削弱了白骨壤的活性氧清除能力,植物极易受到伤害.     

白骨壤幼苗的形态特征及其生物量

白骨壤1年生幼苗的株高、基径、根长、呼吸根高、叶面积以及根、茎、枝、叶、胎生苗和全株生物量等计量指标,呈现算术平均值>中值>众值组段中点的规律,符合正偏态分布节数、叶数、呼吸根数、胎生苗数等计数指标的算术平均值和中值相等,二者大于或等于众值组段中点.研究发现白骨壤1年生幼苗能生长指状呼吸根以及开花、结果和发育胎生苗,而且胎生苗成熟后直接萌发形成新的幼苗.根据实测的数据,采用一元线性回归、多元线性回归和非线性回归拟合了白骨壤1年生幼苗主要形态因子和生物量的回归模型.     

Water relations determine short time leaf growth patterns in the mangrove Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh.

High‐resolution leaf growth is rarely studied despite its importance as a metric for plant performance and resource use efficiency. This is in part due to methodological challenges. Here, we present a method for in situ leaf growth measurements in a natural environment. We measured instantaneous leaf growth on a mature Avicennia marina subsp. australasica tree over several weeks. We measured leaf expansion by taking time‐lapse images and analysing them using marker tracking software. A custom‐made instrument was designed to enable long‐term field studies. We detected a distinct diel growth pattern with leaf area shrinkage in the morning and leaf expansion in the afternoon and at night. On average, the observed daily shrinkage was 37% of the net growth. Most of the net growth occurred at night. Diel leaf area shrinkage and recovery continued after growth cessation. The amount of daily growth was negatively correlated with shrinkage, and instantaneous leaf growth and shrinkage were correlated with changes in leaf turgor. We conclude that, at least in this tree species, instantaneous leaf growth patterns are very strongly linked to, and most likely driven by, leaf water relations, suggesting decoupling of short‐term growth patterns from carbon assimilation.