Use of Deep Sequencing to Evaluate Transitions in Microbial Communities in Stranded .

Deep sequencing technologies can be used to evaluate pathogens in environmental samples. The objective of this study was to use this technology to evaluate samples that were characterized by different stranding times, one classified as short-term stranded (STS) and another classified as long-term stranded (LTS) . Nine replicates of the STS showed a range in Shannon diversity between 3.

Blooming in the Anthropocene: Perspectives on the development of freshwater blooms, changing phytoplankton communities, and mitigation strategies.

Freshwater is a declining natural resource sensitive to anthropogenic impacts on the environment, now exacerbated by climate change and elevated global temperatures. Among modern predicaments associated with the Anthropocene are nuisance and harmful algal blooms (HABs), which typically correlate with eutrophication resulting in the rapid growth and overabundance of planktonic microalgae, including cyanobacteria. Regions of hypoxia are common following bloom collapse, and some species of microalgae produce potent toxins, intensifying environmental impacts.

Adaptive evolution and early diversification of photonic nanomaterials in marine diatoms.

The discovery of natural slab photonic crystals in diatoms has sparked questions regarding their prevalence and functional role in nature. These advanced nanomaterials open so-called photonic stopbands in two dimensions, enabling precise light manipulation essential in technologies like quantum computing and photonics. However, the natural role of these advanced properties remains a mystery.

Environmental Factors Impacting the Development of Toxic Cyanobacterial Proliferations in a Central Texas Reservoir.

Cyanobacterial harmful algal proliferations (cyanoHAPs) are increasingly associated with dog and livestock deaths when benthic mats break free of their substrate and float to the surface. Fatalities have been linked to neurotoxicosis from anatoxins, potent alkaloids produced by certain genera of filamentous cyanobacteria. After numerous reports of dog illnesses and deaths at a popular recreation site on Lady Bird Lake, Austin, Texas in late summer 2019, water and floating mat samples were collected from several sites along the reservoir.

First Confirmed Case of Canine Mortality Due to Dihydroanatoxin-a in Central Texas, USA.

The frequency of dogs becoming ill or dying from accidental exposure to cyanotoxins, produced by cyanobacteria, is increasing throughout the United States. In January and February of 2021, two dogs died and five dogs became ill after swimming in Lake Travis, central Texas, USA; one deceased dog (C) was subjected to pathological testing. Algal materials, sediment samples, zebra mussel viscera, periphyton from shells, as well as fluids and tissues from the digestive tract of C were investigated for the following cyanotoxins: anatoxin-a, homoanatoxin-a, dihydroanatoxin-a (dhATX), cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin, and microcystins.

Extreme genome diversity and cryptic speciation in a harmful algal-bloom-forming eukaryote.

Harmful algal blooms of the toxic haptophyte Prymnesium parvum are a recurrent problem in many inland and estuarine waters around the world. Strains of P. parvum vary in the toxins they produce and in other physiological traits associated with harmful algal blooms, but the genetic basis for this variation is unknown.

Cultivating epizoic diatoms provides insights into the evolution and ecology of both epibionts and hosts.

Our understanding of the importance of microbiomes on large aquatic animals-such as whales, sea turtles and manatees-has advanced considerably in recent years. The latest observations indicate that epibiotic diatom communities constitute diverse, polyphyletic, and compositionally stable assemblages that include both putatively obligate epizoic and generalist species. Here, we outline a successful approach to culture putatively obligate epizoic diatoms without their hosts.

Microalgal lipids: biochemistry and biotechnology.

Microalgae, including cyanobacteria, are a genetically diverse and biochemically diverse group of mostly photosynthetic organisms that can be found in nearly every ecosystem. They produce a broad range of compounds, including structural and bioactive lipids with various roles in the metabolism of the cell and potential applications in biotechnology. The majority of lipids are synthesized in the chloroplast using acetate to produce fatty acids and terpenoids via the acetate pathway and methylerythritol phosphate deoxy-xylulose phosphate pathway, respectively.

Predator complementarity dampens variability of phytoplankton biomass in a diversity-stability trophic cascade.

Trophic cascades - indirect effects of predators that propagate down through food webs - have been extensively documented in many ecosystem types. It has also been shown that predator diversity can mediate these trophic cascades and, separately, that herbivore biomass can influence the stability of primary producers. However, whether predator diversity can cause cascading effects on the stability of lower trophic levels has not yet been studied.

Microalgal-based feed: promising alternative feedstocks for livestock and poultry production.

There is an immediate need to identify alternative sources of high-nutrient feedstocks for domestic livestock production and poultry, not only to support growing food demands but also to produce microalgae-source functional foods with multiple health benefits. Various species of microalgae and cyanobacteria are used to supplement existing feedstocks. In this review, microalgae have been defined as a potential feedstock for domestic animals due to their abundance of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, minerals, vitamins, and other high-value products.

Dark adaptation and ability of pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry to identify nutrient limitation in the bloom-forming cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa (Kützing).

Harmful algal blooms in inland waters are widely linked to excess phosphorus (P) loading, but increasing evidence shows that their growth and formation can also be influenced by nitrogen (N) and iron (Fe). Deficiency in N, P, and Fe differentially affects cellular photosystems and is manifested as changes in photosynthetic yield (F/F). While F/F has been increasingly used as a rapid and convenient in situ gauge of nutrient deficiency, there are few rigorous comparisons of instrument sensitivity and ability to resolve specific nutrient stresses.

On Sea Turtle-associated Craspedostauros (Bacillariophyta), with Description of Three Novel Species.

The current study focuses on four species from the primarily marine diatom genus Craspedostauros that were observed growing attached to numerous sea turtles and sea turtle-associated barnacles from Croatia and South Africa. Three of the examined taxa, C. danayanus sp.

Biosilica slab photonic crystals as an alternative to cleanroom nanofabrication?

Photonics, the manipulation of light at nanoscale, is a key enabling technology with impact in health and energy applications, among others. In most cases photonics still relies on materials and fabrication methods inherited from other disciplines, usually requiring expensive, time-consuming and environmentally-unfriendly processes. Recent experiments demonstrated that advanced photonic materials, as complex as those known as 2.

Exploring Diversity, Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) from Marine Habitats. Novel Taxa with Internal Costae.

In many marine littoral and sublittoral benthic habitats, we find small diatoms with few features resolvable with light microscopy (LM) other than internal costae across their valves. While classically those internal costae have defined their identification and classification, the use of electron microscopy and of molecular data have started to reveal the true diversity of unrelated forms and genera (e.g.

Extraction and Characterization of Lipids from Macroalgae.

Although most algal biofuel research has focused on microalgae, macroalgae are also potential sources of lipid for the production of biodiesel and other liquid fuels. Reliable, accurate methods for assessing the lipid composition of biomass are essential for the development of macroalgae in this area. The conventional methods most commonly used to evaluate lipid composition, such as those of Bligh and Dyer and Folch, do not provide complete extraction of lipids in photosynthetic cells/tissues and therefore do not provide an accurate accounting of lipid production.

Microalgae for High-Value Products Towards Human Health and Nutrition.

Microalgae represent a potential source of renewable nutrition and there is growing interest in algae-based dietary supplements in the form of whole biomass, e.g., and , or purified extracts containing omega-3 fatty acids and carotenoids.

Phylogenetic analysis and a review of the history of the accidental phytoplankter, Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin (Bacillariophyta).

The diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum has been used as a model for cell biologists and ecologists for over a century. We have incorporated several new raphid pennates into a three gene phylogenetic dataset (SSU, rbcL, psbC), and recover Gomphonemopsis sp. as sister to P.

Isolation of polyketides from Prymnesium parvum (Haptophyta) and their detection by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry metabolic fingerprint analysis.

Prymnesium parvum is a microalga that forms blooms coupled with the presence of potent exotoxins; however, no chemical standards are currently available for the toxins. Streamlined methods are presented for the separation and enrichment of polyketide toxins, prymnesin-1 (prym1) and prymnesin-2 (prym2). Prymnesins were separated by reversed-phase chromatography and detected by positive-mode electrospray ionization MS to generate a unique metabolic fingerprint.

Prymnesins: toxic metabolites of the golden alga, Prymnesium parvum Carter (Haptophyta).

Increasingly over the past century, seasonal fish kills associated with toxic blooms of Prymnesium parvum have devastated aquaculture and native fish, shellfish, and mollusk populations worldwide. Protracted blooms of P. parvum can result in major disturbances to the local ecology and extensive monetary losses.