Spectral properties and photosynthetic action in red-tide populations of Prorocentrum micans and Gonyaulax polyedra

Three sets of experiments were carried out between April and September 1987 to assess reproductive energetics in a laboratory population of the capitellid polychaete Capitella capitata type I. In the first experiment, the population was sampled intensively over a short period of 3 wk. Weight-specific reproductive output did not differ significantly between females and hermaphrodites. However, because hermaphrodites were significantly bigger than females, their fecundity was significantly higher. In the second experiment, fecundity and weight-specific reproductive output were monitored weekly over the oscillation cycle of the population (30 wk). Both fecundity and weight-specific reproductive output varied drastically (40 to 80 eggs per female and 17 to 57%, respectively). In the third experiment, non-sexed juveniles were reared for 15 d on six ration levels (normalized on the basis of organic nitrogen) of four different food sources. The maximum weight-specific reproductive output was 70% (for females). Both fecundity and weight-specific reproductive output were positively correlated with food ration and varied with food type. The data on weight-specific reproductive output recorded in the present study have been compared with those of other iteroparous polychaetes in the literature. Reproductive output in C. Capitata type I varies more widely and is greater than in other iteroparous polychaetes. In this species, reproductive output and population dynamics vary concomitently with the level of organic matter in the habitat.     

Photoadaptation of photosynthesis in Gonyaulax polyedra

Gonyaulax polyedra Stein exhibited a combination of photoadaptive strategies of photosynthesis when only a single environmental variable, the light intensity during growth, was altered. Which of several biochemical/physiological adjustments to the light environment were employed depended on the level of growth irradiance. The photoadaptive strategies employed over any small range of light levels appeared to be those best suited for optimizing photosynthetic performance and not photosynthetic capacity. (Photosynthetic performance, P _i, is defined as the rate of photosynthesis occurring at the level of growth irradiance.) Among all photosynthetic parameters examined, only photosynthetic performance showed a consistent correspondence to growth rates of G. polyedra. Above 3500 to 4000 W cm^-2, where photosynthetic performance was equal to photosynthetic capacity, cells were not considered light-limited in either photosynthesis or growth. At these higher light levels, photosynthetic perfomance, cell volume, growth rates and respiration rates remained maximal; photosynthetic pigment content varied only slightly, while the photosynthetic capacity of the cells declined. At intermediate light levels (3000 to 1500 W cm^-2), photosynthesis, not growth, was light-limited, and photoadaptive strategies were induced which enhance absorption capabilities and energy transfer efficiencies of chlorophyll a to the reaction centers of G. polyedra. Photosynthetic capacity remained constant at about 280 mol O₂ cm^-3 h^-1, while photosynthetic performance ranged from 100 to 130 mol O₂ cm^-3 h^-1. Major increases in photosynthetic pigments, especially peridinin-chlorophyll a-proteins and an unidentified chlorophyll c component, accompanied photoadaptation to low irradiances. Maximal growth rates of 0.3 divisions day^-1 were maintained, as were respiration rates of about-80 mol O₂ cm^-3 h^-1 and cell volumes of about 5.4×10^-8 cm^-3 cell^-1. Below about 1250 W cm^-2, photosynthesis in G. polyedra was so light-limited that photosynthetic performance was unable to support maximal growth rates. Under these conditions, G. polyedra displayed photostress responses rather than photoadaptive strategies. Photostress was manifested as reduced cell volumes, slower growth, and drastic reductions in pigmentation, photosynthetic capacity, and rates of dark respiration.     

A mechanism of “red-tide” formation

Three semi-continuous culture experiments were conducted by using natural algal populations [dominants: Skeletonema costatum, Thalassiosira sp., Gymnodinium sp., Heterosigma sp. (formerly called Olisthodiscus luteus) and Eutreptiella sp.] collected from Tanigawa Harbor, Japan, where red-tides occurred occasionally. The effects of macro- and micro-nutrients onto the growth of different species of algae were specifically evaluated by a dialysis bag culture technique. Two types of responses for nutrients were clearly observed; macro- and micro-nutrient dependency. The former group includes S. costatum, Thalassiosira sp. and Eutreptiella sp. which mainly stimulated their growth by macro-nutrients. Heterosigma sp. was in the latter group which was stimulated by micronutrients. Gymnodinium sp. showed an intermediate type. A red-tide of Heterosigma sp. formed during the experiment in the harbor and is discussed with the results of the present culture experiments and some field observations.     

Effects of light intensity on aging of the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra

Gonyaulax polyedra Stein grown in increasingly nutrientlimited batch culture undergoes the following changes (collectively termed aging): there is a decline in the intracellular concentrations of carbon, nitrogen and photosynthetic pigments; nitrate reductase activity decreases; rates of respiration and photosynthesis fall; and cell division virtually ceases (accompanied in bright light by a decrease in the volume of individual cells). The effect of light intensity on these aging events was tested by growing cells in either bright or dim light. The bright light (330 E m^-2 s^-1) was enough to saturate photosynthesis and the dim light (80 E m^-2 s^-1) was low enough to induce significant shade adaptation of photosynthesis without lowering growth rate. At both light intensities, a decline in carbon and nitrogen content preceded or accompanied all other monitored changes, and the sequence of aging events was similar. However the onset of the decline in intracellular nutrients and photosynthetic rate in low-light cells was delayed by a least one cell division time (i.e., to twice the cell density) in comparison to cells under bright light. At both light levels, pigment-protein complexes of the photosynthetic apparatus began to break down after intracellular carbon and nitrogen had been depleted to a critically low level. The beginning of the drop in pigmentation signalled the end of log-phase growth. It is suggested that the greater pigmentation of low-light cells may represent a larger nutrient supply than found in bright-light cells and could increase the survival time of nutrient-stressed populations.     

Impact of copepod grazing on the red-tide flagellate Chattonella antiqua

Although planktonic copepods are major suspension feeders in the sea, the impact of their grazing pressure upon red-tide flagellates has not been fully investigated. In the present study, the grazing of adult females of several copepod species is examined using three food types: viz. natural suspended particles, natural suspended particles mixed with cultured Chattonella antiqua, and cultured C. antiqua. The functional response on C. antiqua was investigated for five species of copepods (Acartia erythraea, Calanus sinicus, Centropages yamadai, Paracalanus parvus and Pseudodiaptomus marinus). Ingestion rates increased linearly with increasing cell concentrations until a maximum level was reached, beyond which the rates were constant. This cell concentration was higher for larger copepods. The weight-specific maximum ingestion rates were higher in the small species. In general, copepods tended to feed selectively on larger particles when feeding on natural particles. This tendency was strongest in a simulated red-tide environment. Thus, it can be surmised that copepods may selectively graze on C. antiqua during the outbreak of a red tide. Grazing pressure by the natural copepod community in Harima Nada, the Inland Sea of Japan, was calculated by integration of the laboratory determined feeding rates and field measurements of zooplankton biomass. The daily removal rate was 3.4 to 30.8% (mean: 12.3%) of C. antiqua biomass at 20 cells ml^-1 and decreased to 0.6–4.3% (mean: 1.8%) at 500 cells ml^-1. Therefore, the grazing pressure by the copepod community is important at the initial stage of the red tide.     

DNA synthesis and the cell cycle in the noxious red-tide dinoflagellateGymnodinium nagasakiense

Gymnodinium nagasakiense is a noxious red tide dinoflagellate often associated with damage to fisheries in Japan. DNA synthesis and the cell cycle in this organism were investigated from 1989 to 1990 by determining relative DNA contents of individual cells using an epifluorescence microscopy-based microfluorometry system. The nuclei were stained with the DNA-specific fluorochrome 4-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Because photosynthetic pigment interferes with the fluorescence from the DAPI-DNA complex, the pigment was eliminated by methanol treatment as a first step in quantitative microfluorometry. Nuclear DNA contents, cell size distribution, cell density, and frequency of paired cells were determined every 2h for 24h using cells grown on a 12h light:dark cycle. DNA synthesis and cell division were tightly phased to a particular period of the light:dark cycle. DNA synthesis (S phase) occurred from 10:00 to 22:00 hrs and was followed by cytokinesis. The presence of such a distinct S phase strongly suggests thatG. nagasakiense has a typical eukaryotic cell cycle. This type of cell cycle makes it possible to estimate speciesspecific in situ growth rate based on the diel pattern of DNA synthesis.     

Toxin accumulation and feeding behaviour of the planktonic copepod Calanus finmarchicus exposed to the red-tide dinoflagellate Alexandrium excavatum

The planktonic copepod Calanus finmarchicus is a dominant member of the zooplankton community in the lower St. Lawrence Estuary in eastern Canada. Blooms of the toxic marine dinoflagellate Alexandrium excavatum which produces high cellular levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins, occur during the period of high C. finmarchicus production in summer in this region. To study the feeding behaviour of C. finmarchicus in the presence of Alexandrium spp., experiments were conducted in which female adult copepods collected from the St. Lawrence Estuary between May and September 1991 were exposed under controlled conditions to two toxic isolates of A. excavatum (Pr18b and Pr11f) from the estuary and to a non-toxic control (PLY 173) of a closely related species, A. tamarense isolated from the Tamar Estuary, Plymouth, U.K. Clearance rates on non-toxic A. tamarense cells averaged 5.5 ml ind^-1 h^-1 but were nearzero with either toxic isolate. When presented with a mixture of A. excavatum and the non-toxic diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii in varying proportions, C. finmarchicus fed upon the diatom but avoided the toxic dinoflagellate. Although feeding rates on A. excavatum were very low, toxin analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD) revealed that the PSP toxins were accumulated in copepods exposed to toxigenic dinoflagellates.The toxin composition in copepods was similar to that of the toxic dinoflagellate, but not necessarily identical, particularly after short-term (2-h) exposure, when relatively elevated levels of N-sulfocarbamoyl toxins were detected. The evidence suggests that C. finmarchicus ingests toxic dinoflagellate cells, either mistakenly or during exploratory bouts of feeding, and accumulates PSP toxins in its gut system and perhaps in other tissues.     

Photosystem II photoinhibition and altered kinetics of photosynthesis during nutrient-dependent high-light photoadaptation in Gonyaulax polyedra

Gonyaulax poledra Stein was transferred at different cell densities from increasingly nutrient-limited low-light (LL, 80 E m^-2 s^-1) batch-cultures to high-light (HL, 330 E m^-2 s^-1) growth conditions. Several age-dependent differences in HL-adaptation strategies were apparent. Short-term (3h) susceptibility to photosynthetic photoinhibition increased with culture age, with light-limited rates of photosynthesis exhibiting greater photosuppression than light-saturated rates at all stages of growth. These shortterm changes were not accompanied by photobleaching of chlorophyll but were directly related to age-dependent photoinactivation of Photosystem II electron-transport rates. The capacity of electron transport by Photosystem I was only slightly affected. Prolonged exposure of LL log-phase cells to HL conditions did induce photobleaching of chlorophyll associated with increased cell volume, a transient decrease of organic carbon and nitrogen content, enhanced cellular-, carbon-and chlorophyll-based rates of light-saturated photosynthesis (P _max) and suppressed cellular rates of light-limited photosynthesis. As a result, the density of LL log-phase cells doubled and their cellular photosynthetic performance nearly tripled within 1 d of HL exposure while cellular respiratory demands remained unchanged. By contrast, prolonged HL incubation of LL stationary populations induced a transitory burst in cell division and a large reduction in cell volume, leading to a short-term increase in volume-based organic carbon and nitrogen content. Despite reduced cell volume and lowered carbon demand, the cellular-, carbon-and chlorophyll-based rates of P _max in nondividing populations fell by 64, 48 and 27%, respectively, over a 4 d exposure to HL, while light-limited rates were almost fully suppressed within 1 d and chlorophyll a content was reduced by 56%. As a result, the photosynthetic performance of LL-aged cells declined immediately under HL conditions. Addition of inorganic nutrients to LL stationary cultures at the time of HL transfer led to immediate and complete suppression of photosynthesis and cell lysis within 1 d. Addition of nutrients following transfer to HL induced cell responses intermediate to those described for LL log and aged cells exposed to HL. Results support the view that declining nutrient-status impairs HL photoadaptive responses in phytoplankton populations and that the rate and pattern of photoadaptive responses may be used as physiological growth indicators in field studies. The study was conducted from March 1981 to May 1983.     

Release thresholds strongly determine the range of seed dispersal by wind

The effect of the seed abscission process on the dispersal distance of seeds has never been studied explicitly and is often ignored in studies that aim to estimate the seed shadows of species. To examine the importance of the abscission process for the seed shadow we used a seed trajectory model that keeps track of the release threshold dynamics of the individual seeds on mother plant. We defined the release threshold as the critical wind speed that induces a mechanical force that is just large enough to release a seed from its mother plant. The model used real wind speed sequences and seed appearance over time on the mother plant.Several calculations were performed to investigate the effect of release thresholds dynamics on seed shadow of two herbaceous species with contrasting terminal velocity values (V_t): Centaurea jacea (V_t = 4.1 m s⁻¹) and Hypochaeris radicata (V_t = 0.49 m s⁻¹).Release thresholds were responsible for a two-fold increase of median dispersal distances in both species. Tails of the seed shadows, the fraction of seeds that travel furthest, were even more sensitive and increased with a factor 4.5 for Centaurea and 7.0 for Hypochaeris. Our work indicates that the abscission process appears to be very important and suggests that dispersal distance of plants is currently severely underestimated, which, in turn, has major consequences for our current understanding of the distribution, metapopulation dynamics and survival of plant species.     

Hydrodynamic and chemical conditions during onset of a red-tide assemblage in an estuarine upwelling ecosystem

The hydrodynamics and nitrogen/silicon biogeochemistry accompanying the development of a red-tide assemblage were examined in the Ría de Vigo (northwest Spain), a coastal embayment affected by upwelling, during an in situ diel experiment in September 1991. Despite a low N:Si molar ratio (0.5) of nutrients entering the surface layer, which was favourable for diatom growth, the diatom population began to decline. Limited N-nutrient input, arising from moderate coastal upwelling in a stratified water column, restricted net community production (NCP = 630 mg C m⁻² d⁻¹). In addition, light-limitation of gross primary production (GPP = 1525 mg C m⁻² d⁻¹) was observed. The relatively high f-ratio (= NCP:GPP) recorded (0.41, characteristic of intense upwelling conditions) would have been as low as 0.15 had not GPP been limited by light intensity. Temporal separation of carbohydrate synthesis during the photoperiod from protein synthesis in the dark could be inferred from the time-course of the C:N ratio of particulate organic matter. Severe light-limitation would lead to diatom collapse were the diatoms not able to meet all their energy requirements during the hours of darkness. Under the hydrodynamic, nutrient and light conditions of the experiment, an assemblage of red-tide-forming species began to develop, aided by their ability to migrate vertically and to synthesize carbohydrates during the light in surface waters and protein during the dark at the 4 m-deep pycnocline. Thermal stratification, reduced turbulence, intense nutrient mineralization, and the limited nitrogen input through moderate upwelling were all favourable to the onset of a red-tide assemblage. Received: 15 February 1997 / Accepted: 26 September 1997     

Dye tracing of a subsurface chlorophyll maximum of a red-tide dinoflagellate to surface frontal regions

Rhodamine dye (3701) was injected into a 22-m subsurface chlorophyll maximum of the red-tide forming dinoflagellate Prorocentrum mariae-lebouriae var. minimum in the northern Chesapeake Bay (USA) and traced for a sixday period as it spread over a 600 km² area. The precise physical mechanisms, which resulted in the transfer of dye and organisms to the surface, are documented. The major component of the dye and organisms was transported from the central bay into major tributary estuaries via net nontidal flow of bottom waters and surfaced upstream in frontal regions. Once in surface waters, the dye and organisms flowed downriver toward the bay. Due to the three-layer flow of the rivers at this time, the dinoflagellate and the rhodamine re-entered the bay proper at middepth below the fresher Susquehanna plume, thus forming a near-surface chlorophyll maximum (4–6 m) flowing in an opposite direction to the deep subsurface chlorophyll maximum (18–26 m). Current meter arrays verified the opposite flows of these two lenses. The near-surface, southward-flowing lens was followed downstream to an area where the influence of the Susquehanna begins to subside as indicated by isopycnals inclined to the surface. Here the near-surface lens is mixed upward to the surface forming massive red tides (25 000 cells ml^–1) delineated by a frontal region. In addition to the predominant along channel flow, major cross stream Ekman transport and upwelling of dye and organisms was detected in response to wind forcing resulting in localized surface patch formation along the western shore shoaling regions of the bay proper. Thus, annual variations in the locations of surface red tides can be correlated to streamflow and windinduced variations in the locations of frontal regions.     

Sensitivity of marine fishes to toxins from the red-tide dinoflagellate Gonyaulax excavata and implications for fish kills

Marine fishes (Atlantic herring, American pollock, winter flounder, Atlantic salmon, and cod) were dosed orally and intraperitoneally (i.p.) with paralytic shellfish toxins extracted from Bay of Fundy Gonyaulax excavata (tamarensis) cells. The toxins are lethal to these fishes in low oral doses, and in extremely low i.p. doses. Symptoms are the same among these fishes, both for oral and i.p. administrations, including loss of equilibrium within 5 to 15 min, followed by immobilization and shallow, arrhythmic breathing. Death generally occurs within 20 to 60 min of toxin administration. Dose responses are also similar among these fishes. Oral LD50 values are 400 to 750 g saxitoxin (STX) equivalent kg^-1 body weight. Intraperitoneal LD50 values are 4 to 12 g STX equivalent kg^-1. Toxins are undetectable in fish muscle tissue following lethal oral doses. The similarity of symptoms and dose responses suggest that fish as a group are sensitive to G. excavata toxins. Results, in combination with reports implicating these toxins in herring, sand lance, and menhaden kills, show the plausibility that the nearly worldwide blooms and red tides of G. excavata and its relatives may cause kills of a variety of fishes.     

Release of dissolved organic matter by some marine macrophytes

The amount of photoassimilated carbon released as dissolved organic carbon was investigated for 5 species of benthic marine macrophytes (Thalassia testudinum, Diplanthera wrightii, Acanthophora spicifera, Chondria dasyphylla, and Dictyota dichotoma) and 1 species of pelagic marine macrophyte (Sargassum natans). Release rates ranged between 0.006 and 0.053 mg C g^-1 h^-1. Percent release values ranged from 1.1 to 3.8%. Spermatophytes had slightly lower percent release values than algae. Investigations performed on the ability of release products to be utilized by heterotrophic organisms showed that 20 to 30% of the released organic carbon was assimilated within a 2-h period.     

Release of Cd immobilized by soil constituents and its bioavailability

Release of Cd immobilized by soil constituents (clay, humic acids, bacterial cells) in vitro and under soil conditions and its bioavailability to lettuce were studied. The most resistant to extraction with 0.02 M EDTA in vitro as well as under soil conditions was cadmium immobilized by humic acids during decomposition of contaminated plant residues but Cd‐dead cells when 0.1 M NaNO₃ was the extractant.

Cadmium addition (3 mg kg^‐1) to soil and its form were without effect on plant growth and amount of metal accumulated in roots. Tops of plants grown in soil supplemented with Cd‐resting cells contained significantly less metal then other ones.     

不同pH条件下太湖入湖河道沉积物磷的释放

对不同pH条件下太湖西部主要入湖河道沉积物中溶解性活性磷(SRP)和总溶解性磷(TDP)的采样分析结果表明,中部人湖河道SRP与TDP的释放表现出明显的不一致性,北部和南部入湖河道SRP和TDP的释放基本一致,只是在强碱性条件下,某些河流2种磷的释放变化不一致.营养程度高的河道,沉积物磷在碱性条件下容易释放;营养程度低的河道,沉积物磷在酸性条件下容易释放.因此,应当考虑碱化(或酸化)引起的磷释放风险.Fe-P和Ca-P含量及2者比值与河道的营养状况有关,也与沉积物磷的释放量有关,表明沉积物磷的形态组成对磷的释放影响明显.湖泊因自身的水动力条件差和对营养元素的富集,营养程度高于河道,湖泊沉积物磷的释放量也较大.     

Release of photoassimilated carbon as dissolved organic matter by marine phytoplankton

The release of photoassimilated carbon as dissolved organic matter was studied in situ in oligotrophic and eutrophic marine waters and in axenic laboratory cultures. Percentage extracellular release (PER), integrated for the trophogenic zone, ranged from 6 to 12% in eutrophic waters and from 17 to 27% in oligotrophic seas. Most of the algal cultures released low amounts of dissolved organic matter (5%) during exponential growth. The highest levels of PER were observed in surface and deep samples, possibly as a result of elevated photorespiration and senescent cells. The generally lower values for extracellular release reported in this work as compared to other studies may be partly due to improved experimental techniques which minimized previously encountered artifacts.     

Bioconcentration of butyltin compounds by round crucian carp

Bioconcentration factors (BCF) by round crucian carp and partition coefficients between n‐octanol and water (Pow) were measured for dibutyltin, tributyltin and triphenyltin compounds. Pow was 0.97–3.66 for 7 organotin compounds. BCF of tributyltin and triphenyltin compounds was 1.70–2.77 for muscle, 1.70–2.66 for vertebra, 2.05–3.70 for liver and 1.49–3.50 for kidney.     

Release of nitrite by marine dinoflagellates: development of a mathematical simulation

The dinoflagellates Scrippsiella trochoidea (Stein) and Alexandrium minutum (Halim) were grown in a light–dark cycle with nitrate or nitrate plus ammonium under three different nutrient-supply regimes (dilution with fresh media in dark phase only or during the entire light–dark cycle at the same daily dilution rate, or with a faster continuous dilution). When supplied with nitrate + ammonium, A. minutum released a proportion (as much as 100% from dark-fed cells) of the nitrate taken up during the dark phase as nitrite, reflecting a rate-limiting step at nitrite reduction and poor regulation of inorganic-N uptake and assimilation. S. trochoidea released much smaller amounts of nitrite, if any. Nitrate and ammonium were not accumulated to any extent by either species in darkness, and the transient increases in the size of the free amino acid pool were too small to explain the fate of the newly assimilated N. Thus uptake through to incorporation of N into macromolecules appeared to be coupled in these species, even in darkness when increasing glutamine:glutamate (Gln:Glu) ratios suggested rising C-stress. A mechanistic model was developed from an earlier ammonium–nitrate interaction model (ANIM) by the inclusion of an internal nitrite pool, with control over the supply of reductant for nitrite reduction linked to photosynthetic and respiratory components. The model can reproduce the release of nitrite seen in the experiments, and also the release of nitrite in response to nitrate-feeding of N-stressed cells reported elsewhere. Received: 22 August 1997 / Accepted: 26 September 1997     

Sequestration of plant secondary compounds by butterflies and moths

Summary A number of aposematic butterfly and moth species sequester toxic substances from their host plants. Some of these insects can detect the toxic compounds during food assessment. Some pipevine swallowtails use aristolochic acids among the host finding cues during oviposition and larval feeding and accumulate the toxins in the body tissues throughout all life stages. Likewise, a danaine butterfly,Idea leuconoe, which sequesters high concentrations of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the body, lays eggs in response to the specific alkaloid components contained in the apocynad host. Insect species sharing the same poisonous host plants may differ in the degree of sequestration of toxins. Two closely ralated aposematic geometrid moth species,Arichanna gaschkevitchii andA. melanaria, sequester a series of highly toxic diterpenoids (grayanotoxins) in different degrees, while a cryptic geometrid species,Biston robstus, does not sequester the toxins, illustrating the diversity in adaptation mechanisms even within the same subfamily. By contrast, a number of lepidopteran species store the same compounds though feeding upon taxonomically diverse plant species. A bitter cyanoglycoside, sarmentosin, was characterised from several moth species in the Geometridae, Zygaenidae and Yponomeutidae, and from the apollo butterflies,Parnassius spp. (Papilionidae), although each species feeds on different groups of plants.Interspecific similarities and differences in life history and ecology are discussed in relation to variable characteristics of sequestration of plant compounds among these lepidopteran insects.