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Transport of the harmful bloom alga Aureococcus anophagefferens by oceangoing ships and coastal boats.

ABSTRACT: It is well established that cyst-forming phytoplankton species are transported in ships' ballast tanks. However, there is increasing evidence that other phytoplankton species which do not encyst are also capable of surviving ballast transit. These species have alternative modes of nutrition (hetero- or mixotrophy) and/or are able to survive long-term darkness. In our studies of no-ballast-on-board vessels arriving in the Great Lakes, we tested for the presence of the harmful algal bloom species Aureococcus anophagefferens (brown tide) in residual (i.e., unpumpable) ballast water using methods based on the PCR. During 2001, the brown tide organism was detected in 7 of 18 ballast water tanks in commercial ships following transit from foreign ports. Furthermore, it was detected after 10 days of ballast tank confinement during a vessel transit in the Great Lakes, a significant result given the large disparity between the salinity tolerance for active growth of Aureococcus (>22 ppt) and the low salinity of the residual ballast water (approximately 2 ppt). We also investigated the potential for smaller, recreational vessels to transport and distribute Aureococcus. During the summer of 2002, 11 trailered boats from the inland bays of Delaware and coastal bays of Maryland were sampled. Brown tide was detected in the bilge water in the bottoms of eight boats, as well as in one live-well sample. Commercial ships and small recreational boats are therefore implicated as potential vectors for long-distance transport and local-scale dispersal of Aureococcus.

SUBMITTER: Doblin MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC525227 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Transport of the harmful bloom alga Aureococcus anophagefferens by oceangoing ships and coastal boats.

Doblin Martina A MA Popels Linda C LC Coyne Kathryn J KJ Hutchins David A DA Cary S Craig SC Dobbs Fred C FC

Applied and environmental microbiology 20041101 11

It is well established that cyst-forming phytoplankton species are transported in ships' ballast tanks. However, there is increasing evidence that other phytoplankton species which do not encyst are also capable of surviving ballast transit. These species have alternative modes of nutrition (hetero- or mixotrophy) and/or are able to survive long-term darkness. In our studies of no-ballast-on-board vessels arriving in the Great Lakes, we tested for the presence of the harmful algal bloom species ...[more]

PMID: 15528511

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Project description:Relatively little is known about the presence and regulation of pathways involved in nutrient acquisition in the brown tide forming alga, Aureococcus anophagefferens. In this study, Long-SAGE (Serial Analysis of Gene Expression) was used to profile the A. anophagefferens transcriptome under nutrient replete (control), and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) deficiency with the goal of understanding how this organism responds at the transcriptional level to varying nutrient conditions. This approach has aided A. anophagefferens genome annotation efforts and identified a suite of genes up-regulated by N and P deficiency, some of which have known roles in nutrient metabolism. Genes up-regulated under N deficiency include an ammonium transporter, an acetamidase/formamidase, and two peptidases. This suggests an ability to utilize reduced N compounds and dissolved organic nitrogen, supporting the hypothesized importance of these N sources in A. anophagefferens bloom formation. There are also a broad suite of P-regulated genes, including an alkaline phosphatase, and two 5’-nucleotidases, suggesting A. anophagefferens may use dissolved organic phosphorus under low phosphate conditions. These N- and P-regulated genes may be important targets for exploring nutrient controls on bloom formation in field populations. Aureococcus anophagefferens CCMP 1984 was obtained from the Provasoli-Guillard Center for the Culture of Marine Phytoplankton (CCMP). The cultures were grown at 18C on a 14 h:10 h light:dark cycle (140 µmol quanta m-2 s-1). Nitrogen- and phosphate-replete (883 µM NO3- and 36.3 µM PO43-) cells, –N (40 µM NO3-) cells, and –P (1 µM PO43-) cells were grown in autoclaved L1 media with no Si (Guillard and Hargraves 1993), prepared using 0.2 µm filtered Vineyard Sound seawater. Vitamins (thiamine, biotin, and B12) were sterile filtered and added to the media after autoclaving. Replete cells were harvested during mid log phase of growth, while –N and –P cells were harvested at the onset of stationary phase when N or P was depleted.

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Transport of the harmful bloom alga Aureococcus anophagefferens by oceangoing ships and coastal boats.

Publications

Transport of the harmful bloom alga Aureococcus anophagefferens by oceangoing ships and coastal boats.

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