Toxicity Overrides Morphology on Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii Grazing Resistance to the Calanoid Copepod Eudiaptomus gracilis.

ABSTRACT: Toxicity and morphology may function as defense mechanisms of bloom-forming cyanobacteria against zooplankton grazing. Yet, the relative importance of each of these factors and their plasticity remains poorly known. We tested the effects of chemical and morphological traits of the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii on the feeding response of the selective feeder Eudiaptomus gracilis (Calanoida, Copepoda), using a saxitoxin-producing strain (STX+) and a non-saxitoxin (STX-)-producing strain as food. From these two chemotypes, we established cultures of three different morphotypes that differed in filament length (short, medium, and long) by incubating the strains at 17, 25, and 32 °C. We hypothesized that the inhibitory effects of saxitoxins determine the avoidance

SUBMITTER: Rangel LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4823325 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature