Role In Aquatic Food Webs Research Articles

Viruses and bacteria in floodplain lakes along a major Amazon tributary respond to distance to the Amazon River.

In response to the massive volume of water along the Amazon River, the Amazon tributaries have their water backed up by 100s of kilometers upstream their mouth. This backwater effect is part of the complex hydrodynamics of Amazonian surface waters, which in turn drives the variation in concentrations of organic matter and nutrients, and also regulates planktonic communities such as viruses and bacteria. Viruses and bacteria are commonly tightly coupled to each other, and their ecological role in aquatic food webs has been increasingly recognized. Here, we surveyed viral and bacterial abundances (BAs) in 26 floodplain lakes along the Trombetas River, the largest clear-water tributary of the Amazon River’s north margin. We correlated viral and BAs with temperature, pH, dissolved inorganic carbon, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), phosphorus, nitrogen, turbidity, water transparency, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2), phytoplankton abundance, and distance from the lake mouth until the confluence of the Trombetas with the Amazon River. We hypothesized that both bacterial and viral abundances (VAs) would change along a latitudinal gradient, as the backwater effect becomes more intense with increased proximity to the Amazon River; different flood duration and intensity among lakes and waters with contrasting sources would cause spatial variation. Our measurements were performed during the low water period, when floodplain lakes are in their most lake-like conditions. Viral and BAs, DOC, pCO2, and water transparency increased as distance to the Amazon River increased. Most viruses were bacteriophages, as viruses were strongly linked to bacteria, but not to phytoplankton. We suggest that BAs increase in response to DOC quantity and possibly quality, consequently leading to increased VAs. Our results highlight that hydrodynamics plays a key role in the regulation of planktonic viral and bacterial communities in Amazonian floodplain lakes.

Whole transcriptome analysis of the monogonont rotifer Brachionus koreanus provides molecular resources for developing biomarkers of carbohydrate metabolism

Rotifers (phylum Rotifera) are the most common non-arthropod animal. Species in the monogonont rotifer Brachionus are widely distributed in coastal areas and play an important role in aquatic food webs as secondary producers. Brachionus koreanus is currently being developed as a model system for ecotoxicological research. We sequenced the whole transcriptome of B. koreanus using RNA-seq technology. De novo sequence assembly by Trinity integrated with TransDecoder produced 36,918 contigs, including putative alternatively spliced variants. A total of 13,784 genes were identified based on Blast analysis. KEGG pathway analysis detected transcripts annotated as coding for enzymes involved in metabolic pathways, the immune system, translation, and signal transduction. Most identified enzymes and pathways were involved in carbohydrate metabolism, such as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and glycolysis. We anticipate that the availability of whole transcriptome data for B. koreanus will provide insights into rotifer biology and physiology and facilitate the development of biomarkers for ecotoxicology studies.

Living on the edge: populations of two zooplankton species living closer to agricultural fields are more resistant to a common insecticide.

Ecological communities across the globe are exposed to diverse natural and anthropogenic stressors and disturbances that can lead to community-wide impacts. Contaminants are a group of anthropogenic disturbances that are ubiquitous in the environment and can trigger trophic cascades, increased susceptibility to pathogens, reduced biodiversity, and altered ecosystems. In these ecosystems, substantial attention has been given to evolved resistance in targeted pest species, but little attention has been given to the evolution of resistance in nontarget species in nature. For the present study, the authors used laboratory toxicity tests to determine if 2 common, co-occurring species of freshwater zooplankton (Simocephalus vetulus and Daphnia pulex) showed population-level variation in sensitivity to a common insecticide (chlorpyrifos). For both species, it was found that populations living near agricultural fields--a proxy for pesticide use--were more resistant to chlorpyrifos than populations collected from ponds far from agriculture. This finding is consistent with the evolution of resistance to pesticides. To the authors' knowledge, only 1 previous study (using Daphnia magna) has demonstrated this relationship. Collectively, these results suggest that evolved resistance may be common in zooplankton populations located near agriculture. Moreover, because zooplankton play a key role in aquatic food webs, it is expected that population variation in resistance would dramatically alter aquatic food webs, particularly with exposure to low concentrations of insecticides.

The conservation status of decapod crustaceans in the Western Ghats of India: an exceptional region of freshwater biodiversity

Abstract Freshwater invertebrates receive relatively little publicity and conservation attention, in spite of their key role in aquatic food webs and ecosystem functioning. Decapod crustaceans such as caridean shrimps and gecarcinucid freshwater crabs comprise some of the most poorly known aquatic taxa, even in exceptional regions of freshwater biodiversity and endemism, such as the Western Ghats mountains of peninsular India. An analysis was carried out to understand distribution patterns and identify priority areas for decapod crustacean conservation in the Western Ghats region based on conservation status data retrieved from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Western Ghats region is home to 49 species and six sub‐species of caridean shrimps (69% endemism) in four genera and two families, and 39 species of gecarcinucid crabs (92% endemism) in 14 genera. This diversity is probably an underestimate given the lack of biotic surveys and taxonomic research carried out on these groups. Three species (3%) of decapod crustaceans from the Western Ghats region are threatened with extinction, while more than half (51%; 48 species) are Data Deficient. The uncertainty regarding the true extinction risk of such a high number of Data Deficient species could hamper conservation efforts as well as policy development and implementation. Forty sites in the Western Ghats region are priorities for the conservation of decapod crustaceans, of which only seven lie within the existing network of protected areas. The specialized natural history and point endemic nature of many species of freshwater decapods, together with escalating human impacts on their aquatic ecosystems in the Western Ghats, makes conservation and management of these threatened and poorly‐known species an immediate and urgent challenge. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mycoloop: chytrids in aquatic food webs.

Parasites are ecologically significant in various ecosystems through their role in shaping food web structure, facilitating energy transfer, and controlling disease. Here in this review, we mainly focus on parasitic chytrids, the dominant parasites in aquatic ecosystems, and explain their roles in aquatic food webs, particularly as prey for zooplankton. Chytrids have a free-living zoosporic stage, during which they actively search for new hosts. Zoospores are excellent food for zooplankton in terms of size, shape, and nutritional quality. In the field, densities of chytrids can be high, ranging from 101 to 109 spores L−1. When large inedible phytoplankton species are infected by chytrids, nutrients within host cells are transferred to zooplankton via the zoospores of parasitic chytrids. This new pathway, the “mycoloop,” may play an important role in shaping aquatic ecosystems, by altering sinking fluxes or determining system stability. The grazing of zoospores by zooplankton may also suppress outbreaks of parasitic chytrids. A food web model demonstrated that the contribution of the mycoloop to zooplankton production increased with nutrient availability and was also dependent on the stability of the system. Further studies with advanced molecular tools are likely to discover greater chytrid diversity and evidence of additional mycoloops in lakes and oceans.

Nutritional mode and specialization alter protist consumer diversity effects on prey assemblages

AME Aquatic Microbial Ecology Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials AME 66:257-269 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01573 Nutritional mode and specialization alter protist consumer diversity effects on prey assemblages Joanna Filip*, Lilian-Lee Müller, Helmut Hillebrand, Stefanie Moorthi Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Schleusenstrasse 1, Wilhelmshaven 26328, Germany *Email: joanna.filip@uni-oldenburg.de ABSTRACT: Mixotrophy is a widespread phenomenon and plays an important role in aquatic food webs by increasing the complexity of trophic interactions and enhancing trophic transfer up the food web. Nevertheless, the effects of mixotrophic consumers on lower trophic levels have not been investigated in the framework of recent biodiversity and ecosystem functioning research, although mixotrophic interactions can lead to enhanced variability of those relationships. The effects of ciliate consumer diversity and nutritional mode on algal prey biovolume and evenness as well as consumer biovolume were investigated in 2 freshwater microcosm experiments. Different species compositions in the consumer and algal assemblages of the 2 experiments resulted in partially different interactions. Increasing consumer richness decreased prey biovolume in both experiments. However, heterotrophic consumers decreased prey biovolume and evenness more than mixotrophs in one experiment, driven by a strong grazer that was not present in the other experiment. Consumer presence and richness affected prey evenness differently, preventing competitive dominance among algae in one experiment but leading to unbalanced grazing in an initially more even prey assemblage in the other experiment. Secondary production increased with consumer richness in both experiments but was differently affected by the consumers’ nutritional mode due to altered competitive interactions and niche overlap in different species combinations. The present study demonstrated that consumer-specific characteristics, such as nutritional mode and feeding preferences, may alter consumer diversity effects on prey. KEY WORDS: Mixotrophy · Consumer diversity · Ecosystem functioning · Multitrophic · Traits · Food web · Ciliates · Microalgae Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Filip J, Müller LL, Hillebrand H, Moorthi S (2012) Nutritional mode and specialization alter protist consumer diversity effects on prey assemblages. Aquat Microb Ecol 66:257-269. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01573 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AME Vol. 66, No. 3. Online publication date: July 09, 2012 Print ISSN: 0948-3055; Online ISSN: 1616-1564 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.

Genomic organization of selected genes in the small monogonont rotifer, Brachionus koreanus

Information of genome structure with its size variation may provide important clues for evolutionary processes at lower taxon level in eukaryotes. Here, we analyzed the compact genome structure of the monogonont rotifer, Brachionus koreanus in the light of transphyletic genome comparison and economic genome usage. To confirm the genome compactness of B. koreanus, we compared the genomic structure of several selected genes with those of human and pufferfish. For example, one of the large genes, DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) with dimeric protein Ku70 and Ku80, showed high similarity, even though genomic DNA lengths were quite different. The replication protein As (RPAs) as a heterotrimeric protein also showed a compact genomic structure including all the essential domains and motifs in B. koreanus. Regarding transmembrane protein-containing genes, the B. koreanus P-glycoprotein (P-gp) showed exactly the same topology of the TM domain compared to those of human and pufferfish, even though it had a compact genome structure. In addition, the gene structure of an inducible repair enzyme O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (O6-MGMT) of B. koreanus showed the highest compactness among the genes tested. The objective of this report is to evaluate the potential for whole genome sequencing and functional genomic research using the monogonont rotifer B. koreanus as a non-model organism that plays important roles in aquatic food-webs. Subsequently, we discussed possible reasons for compact genome structures as well as small and fewer introns from several perspectives. We conclude that the small size genome of B. koreanus would make this species potentially useful for comparative genome structure analysis of non-model species through whole genome sequencing and genetic mapping.

Use of ciliate and phytoplankton taxonomic composition for the estimation of eicosapentaenoic acid concentration in lakes

Summary1. The polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) plays an important role in aquatic food webs, in particular at the primary producer–consumer interface where keystone species such as daphnids may be constrained by its dietary availability. Such constraints and their seasonal and interannual changes may be detected by continuous measurements of EPA concentrations. However, such EPA measurements became common only during the last two decades, whereas long‐term data sets on plankton biomass are available for many well‐studied lakes. Here, we test whether it is possible to estimate EPA concentrations from abiotic variables (light and temperature) and the biomass of prey organisms (e.g. ciliates, diatoms and cryptophytes) that potentially provide EPA for consumers.2. We used multiple linear regression to relate size‐ and taxonomically resolved plankton biomass data and measurements of temperature and light intensity to directly measured EPA concentrations in Lake Constance during a whole year. First, we tested the predictability of EPA concentrations from the biomass of EPA‐rich organisms (diatoms, cryptophytes and ciliates). Secondly, we included the variables mean temperature and mean light intensity over the sampling depth (0–20 m) and depth (0–8 and 8–20 m) as factors in our model to check for large‐scale seasonal‐ and depth‐dependent effects on EPA concentrations. In a third step, we included the deviations of light and temperature from mean values in our model to allow for their potential influence on the biochemical composition of plankton organisms. We used the Akaike Information Criterion to determine the best models.3. All approaches supported our proposition that the biomasses of specific plankton groups are variables from which seston EPA concentrations can be derived. The importance of ciliates as an EPA source in the seston was emphasised by their high weight in our models, although ciliates are neglected in most studies that link fatty acids to seston taxonomic composition. The large‐scale seasonal variability of light intensity and its interaction with diatom biomass were significant predictors of EPA concentrations. The deviation of temperature from mean values, accounting for a depth‐dependent effect on EPA concentrations, and its interaction with ciliate biomass were also variables with high predictive power.4. The best models from the first and second approaches were validated with measurements of EPA concentrations from another year (1997). The estimation with the best model including only biomass explained 80%, and the best model from the second approach including mean temperature and depth explained 87% of the variability in EPA concentrations in 1997.5. We show that it is possible to predict EPA concentrations reliably from plankton biomass, while the inclusion of abiotic factors led to results that were only partly consistent with expectations from laboratory studies. Our approach of including biotic predictors should be transferable to other systems and allow checking for biochemical constraints on primary consumers.

Cercariae (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda) as neglected components of zooplankton communities in freshwater habitats

Zooplanktonic animals live in the open water of freshwater habitats, whilst trematodes are ubiquitous parasitic worms of aquatic vertebrates and invertebrates. A defining characteristic of trematode life cycles is the cercariae, a mainly planktonic free-living larval stage that emerges into the aquatic environment from infected molluscan hosts. Cercariae are lecithotrophic (non-feeding) larvae analogous of meroplankton. Although millions of planktonic cercariae enter freshwater habitats on a daily basis and are capable of forming into dense clouds, they are a largely neglected component of the zooplankton community, rarely mentioned in faunal studies. Nevertheless, there is increasing evidence to suggest that cercariae have important secondary roles in aquatic food webs and energy transfer. This article reacquaints freshwater biologists with cercariae, highlighting the key characteristics of their biology and population dynamics, their role in food webs, public health and veterinary importance, and the risk of increased population densities under the influence of climate change. The reasons for their neglect in freshwater biology is evaluated and considered to be associated with zooplankton sampling methodologies being unsuitable for collecting cercariae and the paucity of identification keys in the limnological literature.

Distribution and faunal richness of Cladocera in western Uganda crater lakes

In this study, we analyse the distribution and species richness of epibenthic and planktonic Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) in 62 Uganda crater lakes, spread across the climatic gradient between the sub-humid shoulder and semi-arid floor of the East African Rift Valley. Together, these lakes cover large environmental gradients in salinity, trophic conditions and depth. In total, 36 species of Cladocera were encountered in the freshwater lakes ( 10,000 μS/cm). Cladoceran species richness in individual lakes was found to be determined primarily by the presence of a well-developed littoral belt of submerged and emergent aquatic macrophytes, pH and salinity. The highest species richness occurred in fresh but eutrophic shallow waters, with relatively low pH (6.5–7) and dense aquatic macrophyte growth. As identified by multivariate statistical analysis, the distribution of Cladocera species among the Uganda lakes was most strongly determined by nutrient availability (measured as total phosphorus), the presence and diversity of aquatic macrophyte habitat, pH, mean annual temperature and the fraction of the crater catchment that is currently under agriculture. Since Cladocera play an important role in aquatic food webs, and as such contribute to the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems, an increased understanding of the environmental controls underlying their distribution provides valuable information on aquatic ecosystem functioning needed for management and conservation. The significant turnover of cladoceran species composition along the sampled environmental gradients demonstrates their potential as biological indicators for water quality and ecosystem health in East African lakes. Our results suggest that changes in land use are the greatest threat to natural ecosystem functioning in these African lakes, and particularly so in the shallower lakes.

Community Structure of Planktonic Fungi and the Impact of Parasitic Chytrids on Phytoplankton in Lake Inba, Japan

Freshwater fungi have received little attention by scientific research in recent years, especially fungi of the pelagic zone. Recently, parasitic fungi, termed chytrids, have been found to play important roles in aquatic food webs. Yet, the diversity and community structure of planktonic fungi including chytrids are not well studied. In this study, we examined the temporal fluctuations of freshwater fungi, including chytrids, in Lake Inba by using molecular techniques of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). DGGE profiles, and associated sequence analysis, indicated that chytrids were present on all sampling dates from May to October (n = 12). In addition, analysis showed that a large proportion of the sequences belonged to chytrids of both parasitic and saprotrophic species. This finding was supported by microscopic observations using Calcofluor white to stain chytrids infecting various phytoplankton species. The percentages of infection by chytrids on two dominant diatom species, Aulacoseira granulata and Aulacoseira ambigua, showed a similar seasonal pattern in the DGGE band profiles. From the phylogenetic analysis and microscopic identification, the chytrids infecting the two diatoms are likely to be affiliated to Chytriomyces sp. and Zygorhizidium sp.. This is the first study to show that DGGE is a useful preliminary approach for examining the diversity of planktonic fungi including chytrids. Our results indicate both parasitic and saprotrophic chytrids are a significant component of freshwater fungi inhabiting the pelagic zone of Lake Inba, Japan. Further modification of DGGE, together with new molecular techniques and microscopic observation, would reveal the hidden diversity and ecological significance of planktonic fungi in aquatic ecosystems.

Diet shift of lentic dragonfly larvae in response to reduced terrestrial prey subsidies

AbstractInputs of terrestrial plant detritus and nutrients play an important role in aquatic food webs, but the importance of terrestrial prey inputs in determining aquatic predator distribution and abundance has been appreciated only recently. I examined the numerical, biomass, and diet responses of a common predator, dragonfly larvae, to experimental reduction of terrestrial arthropod input into ponds. I distributed paired enclosures (n = 7), one with a screen between the land and water (reduced subsidy) and one without a screen (ambient subsidy), near the shoreline of 2 small fishless ponds and sampled each month during the growing season in the southern Appalachian Mountains, Virginia (USA). Screens between water and land reduced the number of terrestrial arthropods that fell into screened enclosures relative to the number that fell into unscreened enclosures and open reference plots by 36%. The δ13C isotopic signatures of dragonfly larvae shifted towards those of aquatic prey in reduced-subsidy enc...

Life cycle of Goeldichironomus holoprasinus goeldi (Diptera: Chironomidae) in laboratory

The larvae of Chironomidae are very important due to their density and role in aquatic food webs. Goeldichironomus holoprasinus Goeldi is one of the most abundant species of Chironomidae in man-made and natural systems, being widely used in water quality assessments. Because of its tolerance to stressing environmental factors, many studies have investigated the effects of stressors on G. holoprasinus anatomy and bionomic attributes. The main aim of this work was to describe G. holoprasinus life cycle attributes in laboratory conditions. The cephalic capsule growth among instars was 1.64 in average (Dyar proportion), whereas the total size growth was continuous. The average room temperature registered was 26 degrees C (18-33 degrees C). In this conditions the D value (time from oviposition to first imago emergence) was 13 days, whereas the minimum G value (interval from the oviposition to the first progeny of the next generation) was 16 days. The emergence lasted four days, which determined that average G of 18 days. Thus, at registered temperatures G. holoprasinus has a short life cycle.

Virulence, cultivating conditions, and phylogenetic analyses of oomycete parasites in Daphnia

We describe the infectivity, virulence, cultivating conditions, and phylogenetic positions of naturally occurring oomycete parasites of Daphnia, invertebrates which play a major role in aquatic food webs. Daphnia pulex individuals were found dead and covered by oomycete mycelia when exposed to pond sediments. We were able to extract 4 oomycete isolates from dead Daphnia and successfully cultivate them. Using the ITS and LSU rDNA sequences, we further showed these isolates to be distinct species. The isolates were experimentally demonstrated to be parasitic and not saprobic. After exposure to the parasites, Daphnia mortality was much higher than that reported for Daphnia infected with other known parasite species. Therefore, it is likely that oomycete parasites are important selective pressures in natural Daphnia populations. Moreover, their close phylogenetic relationship to parasites of fish and algae suggests that the stability of aquatic food webs (i.e. fish-Daphnia-algae) might be influenced by the shared parasite communities.

Effect of selenate on growth and photosynthesis of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Algal communities play a crucial role in aquatic food webs by facilitating the transfer of dissolved inorganic selenium (both an essential trace element and a toxic compound for a wide variety of organisms) to higher trophic levels. The dominant inorganic chemical species of selenium in freshwaters are selenite (SeO 3 2−) and selenate (SeO 4 2−). At environmental concentrations, selenite is not likely to have direct toxic effects on phytoplankton growth [Morlon, H., Fortin, C., Floriani, M., Adam, C., Garnier-Laplace, J., Boudou, A., 2005a. Toxicity of selenite in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinharditii: comparison between effects at the population and sub-cellular level. Aquat. Toxicol. 73(1), 65–78]. The effects of selenate, on the other hand, are poorly documented. We studied the effects of selenate on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii growth (a common parameter in phytotoxicity tests). Growth inhibition (96-h IC 50) was observed at 4.5 ± 0.2 μM selenate ( p < 0.001), an effective concentration which is low compared to environmental concentrations. Growth inhibition at high selenium concentrations may result from impaired photosynthesis. This is why we also studied the effects of selenate on the photosynthetic process (not previously assessed in this species to our knowledge) as well as selenate's effects on cell ultrastructure. The observed ultrastructural damage (chloroplast alterations, loss of appressed domains) confirmed that chloroplasts are important targets in the mechanism of selenium toxicity. Furthermore, the inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport evaluated by chlorophyll fluorescence induction confirmed this hypothesis and demonstrated that selenate disrupts the photosynthetic electron chain. Compared to the classical ‘growth inhibition’ parameter used in phytotoxicity tests, cell diameter and operational photosynthetic yield were more sensitive and may be convenient tools for selenate toxicity assessment in non-target plants.

Unveiling fungal zooflagellates as members of freshwater picoeukaryotes: evidence from a molecular diversity study in a deep meromictic lake

This study presents an original 18S rRNA PCR survey of the freshwater picoeukaryote community, and was designed to detect unidentified heterotrophic picoflagellates (size range 0.6-5 microm) which are prevalent throughout the year within the heterotrophic flagellate assemblage in Lake Pavin. Four clone libraries were constructed from samples collected in two contrasting zones in the lake. Computerized statistic tools have suggested that sequence retrieval was representative of the in situ picoplankton diversity. The two sampling zones exhibited similar diversity patterns but shared only about 5% of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Phylogenetic analysis clustered our sequences into three taxonomic groups: Alveolates (30% of OTUs), Fungi (23%) and Cercozoa (19%). Fungi thus substantially contributed to the detected diversity, as was additionally supported by direct microscopic observations of fungal zoospores and sporangia. A large fraction of the sequences belonged to parasites, including Alveolate sequences affiliated to the genus Perkinsus known as zooparasites, and chytrids that include host-specific parasitic fungi of various freshwater phytoplankton species, primarily diatoms. Phylogenetic analysis revealed five novel clades that probably include typical freshwater environmental sequences. Overall, from the unsuspected fungal diversity unveiled, we think that fungal zooflagellates have been misidentified as phagotrophic nanoflagellates in previous studies. This is in agreement with a recent experimental demonstration that zoospore-producing fungi and parasitic activity may play an important role in aquatic food webs.

Hepatotoxic Cyanobacteria: A Review of the Biological Importance of Microcystins in Freshwater Environments

Cyanobacteria possess many adaptations to develop population maxima or “blooms” in lakes and reservoirs. A potential consequence of freshwater blooms of many cyanobacterial species is the production of potent toxins, including the cyclic hepatotoxins, microcystins (MCs). Approximately 70 MC variants have been isolated. Their toxicity to humans and other animals is well studied, because of public health concerns. This review focuses instead on the production and degradation of MCs in freshwater environments and their effects on aquatic organisms. Genetic research has revealed the existence of MC-related genes, yet the expression of these genes seems to be regulated by complex mechanisms and is influenced by environmental factors. In natural water bodies, the species composition of cyanobacterial communities and the ratio of toxic to nontoxic species and strains are largely responsible for total toxin production. Cyanobacteria play vital roles in aquatic food webs, yet production, accumulation, and toxicity patterns of MCs within aquatic food webs remain obscure. R. Zurawell was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant to E. Prepas. The authors wish to thank D. G. Dixon for the inspiration to write this review and S. Pinder for assisting with figure preparation. Thorough reviews of earlier drafts by two anonymous reviewers greatly improved the content and logical development of this article.Current address for Ronald W. Zurawell is Environmental Monitoring and Evaluation Branch, Environmental Assurance Division, Alberta Environment, 10th Floor, Oxbridge Place, 9820-106 St., Edmonton, AB T5K 2J6, Canada.

Those amazing dinoflagellate chromosomes.

Dinoflagellates are a very large and diverse group of eukaryotic algae that play a major role in aquatic food webs of both fresh water and marine habitats. Moreover, the toxic members of this group pose a health threat in the form of red tides. Finally, dinoflagellates are of great evolutionary importance, because of their taxonomic position, and their unusual chromosome structure and composition. While the cytoplasm of dinoflagellates is typically eukaryotic, the nucleus is unique when compared to the nucleus of other eukaryotes. More specifically, while the chromosomes of all other eukaryotes contain histones, dinoflagellate chromosomes lack histones completely. There are no known exceptions to this observation: all dinoflagellates lack histones, and all other eukaryotes contain histones. Nevertheless, dinoflagellates remain a relatively unstudied group of eukaryotes.

Can C4 plants contribute to aquatic food webs of subtropical streams?

Summary1. Recent stable isotope studies have revealed that C4 plants play a minor role in aquatic food webs, despite their often widespread distribution and production. We compared the breakdown of C3 (Eucalyptus) and C4 (Saccharum and Urochloa) plant litter in a small rain forest stream and used laboratory feeding experiments to determine their potential contribution to the aquatic food web.2. All species of litter broke down at a fast rate in the stream, although Urochloa was significantly faster than Eucalyptus and Saccharum. This was consistent with the observed higher total organic nitrogen of Urochloa compared with the other two species.3. The breakdown of Urochloa and Saccharum was, however, not associated with shredding invertebrates, which were poorly represented in leaf packs compared with the native Eucalyptus. The composition of the invertebrate fauna in packs of Urochloa quickly diverged from that of the other two species.4. Feeding experiments using a common shredding aquatic insect Anisocentropus kirramus showed a distinct preference for Eucalyptus over both C4 species. Anisocentropus was observed to ingest C4 plant litter, particularly in the absence of other choices, and faecal material collected was clearly of C4 origin, as determined by stable isotope analysis. However, the stable carbon isotope values of the larvae did not shift away from their C3 signature in any of the feeding trials.5. These data suggest that shredders avoid the consumption of C4 plants, in favour of native C3 species that appear to be of lower food quality (based on C : N ratios). Lower rates of consumption and lack of assimilation of C4 carbon also suggest that shredders may have a limited ability to process this material, even in the absence of alternative litter sources. Large scale clearing of forest and vegetation for C4 crops such as sugarcane will undoubtedly have important consequences for stream ecosystem function.

MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE HETEROTROPHIC CHRYSOPHYTE GENUS PARAPHYSOMONAS (CHRYSOPHYCEAE), AND THE DESIGN OF rRNA-TARGETED OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES FOR TWO SPECIES

Nanoflagellate protists are algae and protozoa (2‐ 20 mm in size) that play important ecological roles in freshwater and marine microbial communities as primary producers and as consumers of prokaryotic and eukaryotic prey. There is little biogeographical information for most of these minute protists despite their significant role in aquatic food webs. In addition, the evolutionary relationships among some of these species and their affinities to other protistan taxa are unclear. These circumstances are largely a consequence of the fact that small protists possess few readily apparent morphological features on which to base taxonomic and phylogenetic schemes and with which to identify them in natural assemblages. As an alternative approach for addressing these issues, we sequenced the small-subunit ribosomal RNA genes of four species of the colorless chrysophyte genus Paraphysomonas. A phylogenetic analysis based on that sequence information was performed, and oligonucleotide probes for two commonly occurring species of Paraphysomonas were designed and tested. Phylogenetic analyses of these four species confirmed the affinity of the genus Paraphysomonas with other chrysophyte species. High sequence similarity among three of the species (P. imperforata Lucas, P. bandaiensis Takahashi, and P. foraminifera Lucas) supported a previous phylogenetic grouping of these species based on the morphology of the scales produced by these species. In particular, sequence similarity between P. imperforata and P. foraminifera indicated that this speciation was a recent evolutionary event. However, a fourth species (P. vestita (Stokes) de Saedeleer) possessing similar scale morphology to P. bandaiensis, P. imperforata, and P. foraminifera showed considerable sequence dissimilarity in comparison to these latter three species. Oligonucleotide probes were successfully designed for the species P. imperforata and P. bandaiensis and applied together with a recently de