• ALGAE
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.141-150
• /
• 2005

To make a preliminary identification of the gracilarioid plant attached to cultivation ropes of Undaria pinnatifida and establish a method of cultivating this plant, the first taxonomic and cultivation studies on this species in Korea were conducted. This gracilarioid plant was identified from its morphological and anatomical features, as Gracilaria chorda. Growth tests using the 10, 20, and 30 cm cuttings of axes of G. chorda were performed twice, from May 3 to August 21, 2002 and from December 15, 2002 to April 3, 2003 in Ihoijin aquafarm, Hoijin, Jangheung, Jeollanamdo, Korea. In the first growing test, the thallus length of the 10, 20, and 30 cm cuttings increased twelve-fold, ten-fold, and seven-fold; the wet weight increased 81-fold, 60-fold, and 41-fold; the numbers of more than 10 cm-long branches increased 3.8-fold, 5.2-fold, and 6.1-fold, respectively. In the second growth test, the thallus length of the 10, 20, and 30 cm cuttings increased seven-fold, 5.5-fold, and four-fold; the wet weight increased 81-fold, 53-fold and 36-fold; the number of branches increased 3.8-fold, 7.3-fold, and 6.6-fold, respectively. The cultivation of G. chorda by vegetative regeneration using cuttings of thallus axes was successful for the first time in Korea.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.35-45
• /
• 2014

Palmaria palmata was integrated with Atlantic halibut Hippoglossus hippoglossus on a commercial farm for one year starting in November, with a temperature range of 0.4 to $19.1^{\circ}C$. The seaweed was grown in nine plastic mesh cages (each $1.25m^3$ volume) suspended in a concrete sump tank ($46m^3$) in each of three recirculating systems. Two tanks received effluent water from tanks stocked with halibut, and the third received ambient seawater serving as a control. Thalli were tumbled by continuous aeration, and held under a constant photoperiod of 16 : 8 (L : D). Palmaria stocking density was $2.95kg\;m^{-3}$ initially, increasing to $9.85kg\;m^{-3}$ after a year. Specific growth rate was highest from April to June (8.0 to $9.0^{\circ}C$), 1.1% $d^{-1}$ in the halibut effluent and 0.8% $d^{-1}$ in the control, but declined to zero or less than zero above $14^{\circ}C$. Total tissue nitrogen of Palmaria in effluent water was 4.2 to 4.4% DW from January to October, whereas tissue N in the control system declined to 3.0-3.6% DW from April to October. Tissue carbon was independent of seawater source at 39.9% DW. Estimated tank space required by Palmaria for 50% removal of the nitrogen excreted by 100 t of halibut during winter is about 29,000 to $38,000m^2$, ten times the area required for halibut culture. Fifty percent removal of carbon from the same system requires 7,200 to $9,800m^2$ cultivation area. Integration of P. palmata with Atlantic halibut is feasible below $10^{\circ}C$, but is impractical during summer months due to disintegration of thalli associated with reproductive maturation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.29 no.12
• /
• pp.1957-1968
• /
• 2019

Tetraselmis is a green algal genus, some of whose species are important in aquaculture as well as biotechnology. In algal culture, fluorescent lamps, traditional light source for culturing algae, are now being replaced by a cost-effective light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In this study, we investigated the effect of LED light of different wavelengths (white, red, yellow, and blue) on the growth of Tetraselmis suecica and its associated microbial community structures using the next-generation sequencing (NGS). The fastest growth rate of T. suecica was shown in the red light, whereas the slowest was in yellow. The highest OTUs (3426) were identified on day 0, whereas the lowest ones (308) were found on day 15 under red light. The top 100 OTUs associated with day 0 and day 5 cultures of T. suecica under the red and yellow LED were compared. Only 26 OTUs were commonly identified among four samples. The highest numbers of unique OTUs were identified at day 0, indicating the high degree of initial microbial diversity of the T. suecica inoculum. The red light-unique OTUs occupied 34.98%, whereas the yellow-specific OTUs accounted for only 2.2%. This result suggested a higher degree of interaction in T. suecica culture under the red light, where stronger photosynthesis occurs. Apparently, the microbial community associated with T. suecica related to the oxygen produced by algal photosynthesis. This result may expand our knowledge about the algae-bacteria consortia, which would be useful for various biotechnological applications including wastewater treatment, bioremediation, and sustainable aquaculture.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.309-324
• /
• 2017

Recently, the heterotrophic nanoflagellate Katablepharis japonica has been reported to feed on diverse red-tide species and contribute to the decline of red tides. However, if there are effective predators feeding on K. japonica, its effect on red tide dynamics may be reduced. To investigate potential effective protist predators of K. japonica, feeding by the engulfment-feeding heterotrophic dinoflagellates (HTDs) Oxyrrhis marina, Gyrodinium dominans, Gyrodinium moestrupii, Polykrikos kofoidii, and Noctiluca scintillans, the peduncle-feeding HTDs Luciella masanensis and Pfiesteria piscicida, the pallium-feeding HTD Oblea rotunda, and the naked ciliates Strombidium sp. (approximately $20{\mu}m$ in cell length), Pelagostrobilidium sp., and Miamiensis sp. on K. japonica was explored. We found that none of these heterotrophic protists fed on actively swimming cells of K. japonica. However, O. marina, G. dominans, L. masanensis, and P. piscicida were able to feed on heat-killed K. japonica. Thus, actively swimming behavior of K. japonica may affect feeding by these heterotrophic protists on K. japonica. To the contrary, K. japonica was able to feed on O. marina, P. kofoidii, O. rotunda, Miamiensis sp., Pelagostrobilidium sp., and Strombidium sp. However, the specific growth rates of O. marina did not differ significantly among nine different K. japonica concentrations. Thus, K. japonica may not affect growth of O. marina. Our findings suggest that the effect of predation by heterotrophic protists on K. japonica might be negligible, and thus, the effect of grazing by K. japonica on populations of red-tide species may not be reduced by mortality due to predation by protists.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.49-59
• /
• 2016

Ulva pertusa, a common bloom-forming green alga, was used as a model system to examine the effects of elevated carbon dioxide (CO₂) and temperature on growth and photosynthetic performance. To do this, U. pertusa was grown under four temperature and CO₂ conditions; ambient CO₂ (400 μatm) and temperature (16℃) (i.e., present), elevated temperature only (19℃) (ET; i.e., warming), elevated CO₂ only (1,000 μatm) (EC; i.e., acidification), and elevated temperature and CO₂ (ET and EC; i.e., greenhouse), and its steady state photosynthetic performance evaluated. Maximum gross photosynthetic rates (GP_max) were highest under EC conditions and lowest under ET conditions. Further, ET conditions resulted in decreased rate of dark respiration (R_d), but growth of U. pertusa was higher under ET conditions than under ambient temperature conditions. In order to evaluate external carbonic anhydrase (eCA) activity, photosynthesis was measured at 70 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹ in the presence or absence of the eCA inhibitor acetazolamide (AZ), which inhibited photosynthetic rates in all treatments, indicating eCA activity. However, while AZ reduced U. pertusa photosynthesis in all treatments, this reduction was lower under ambient CO₂ conditions (both present and warming) compared to EC conditions (both acidification and greenhouse). Moreover, Chlorophyll a and glucose contents in U. pertusa tissues declined under ET conditions (both warming and greenhouse) in conjunction with reduced GP_max and R_d. Overall, our results indicate that the interaction of EC and ET would offset each other’s impacts on photosynthesis and biochemical composition as related to carbon balance of U. pertusa.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.191-203
• /
• 2018

Fragilariopsis cylindrus is one of the most successful psychrophiles in the Southern Ocean. To investigate the molecular mechanism of biomineralization in this species, we attempted to synchronize F. cylindrus growth, since new cell wall formation is tightly coupled to the cell division process. Nutrient limitation analysis showed that F. cylindrus cultures rapidly stopped growing when deprived of silicate or light, while growth continued to a certain extent in the absence of nitrate. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that deprivation of either silicate or light could effectively arrest the cell cycle of this diatom species at the G1 phase, suggesting that synchrony can be established using either factor. Fluorescence labeling of new cell walls was faintly detectable as early as approximately 6 h after silicon repletion or light irradiation, and labeling was markedly intensified by 18 h. It is revealed that the synthesis of girdle bands begins before valve synthesis in this species, with active valve synthesis occurring during the G2 / M phase. Expression profiling revealed that selective member(s) of the F. cylindrus SIT genes (FcSIT) respond to silicate and light, with a different set of genes being responsive to each factor. The Si / light double depletion experiments demonstrated that expression of one FcSIT gene is possibly correlated to transition to G2 / M phase of the cell cycle, when the valve is actively formed.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.277-288
• /
• 2008

The relationship between nutrients and phytoplankton dynamics was investigated daily from 12 April to 22 July 2003 in Sagami Bay, Japan. According to multidimensional scaling (MDS) and cluster analysis, phytoplankton community was divided into four distinct groups. The first group was consisted of centric diatom species, such as Guinardia spp., Detonula spp., Letocylindrus danicus, Skeletonema costatum, Eucampia zodiacus and Chaetoceros spp.. The second and third clusters comprised mainly diatoms and dinoflagellates, respectively. The other cluster was restricted to the samples collected during the last sampling period when the rainfall and river discharge was frequently recorded. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was applied to analyze four groups respectively, which focused on the effects of nutrients concentration and ratio on phytoplankton variations. Based on CCA analysis, most species of centric diatom were negatively correlated with DSi concentrations and Si/N ratio. Nutrients were strongly limited phytoplankton growth during the summer when the rainfall was not observed, whereas river discharge by rainfall and counterclockwise coastal currents (although the surface circulation pattern is often altered by Kuroshio Current, the counterclockwise coastal currents are generally dominant) has brought phytoplankton population accumulation and triggered the micoalgae growth in western part of the bay. Phosphorous (P) was strongly limited after significantly increases in the phytoplankton abundances. However, silicate (Si) was not a major limiting factor for phytoplankton production, since Si/DIN and Si/P ratio did not create any potential stoichiometric limitation. This indicates that high Si availability contributes favorably to the maintenance of diatom ecosystems in Sagami Bay.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.92-98
• /
• 2013

Microalgal cultivation using wastewater is now regarded as essential for biodiesel production, as two goals can be achieved simultaneously; that is, nutrient removal efficiency and biomass production. Therefore, this study examined the effects of carbon sources, the N:P ratio, and the hydraulic retention time (HRT) to identify the optimal conditions for nutrient removal efficiency and biomass production. The effluent from a 2nd lagoon was used to cultivate microalgae. Whereas the algal species diversity and lipid content increased with a longer HRT, the algal biomass productivity decreased. Different carbon sources also affected the algal species composition. Diatoms were dominant with an increased pH when bicarbonate was supplied. However, 2% $CO_2$ gas led to a lower pH and the dominance of filamentous green algae with a much lower biomass productivity. Among the experiments, the highest chlorophyll-a concentration and lipid productivity were obtained with the addition of phosphate up to 0.5 mg/l P, since phosphorus was in short supply compared with nitrogen. The N and P removal efficiencies were also higher with a balanced N:P ratio, based on the addition of phosphate. Thus, optimizing the N:P ratio for the dominant algae could be critical in attaining higher algal growth, lipid productivity, and nutrient removal efficiency.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.67-74
• /
• 2009

To study the influence of the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus on harmful algal bloom suppression, we focused on assessing the rotifer's abilities using several prey species : Microcystis aeruginosa, Synechocystis sp., Chlorella vulgaris and Coelastrum sp. of the warm-weather species and the cold-weather centric diatom Stephanodiscus hantzchii. Grazing effects and growth rates of rotifers B. calyciflorus were 94.5% and $1.29d^{-1}$, respectively, for Synechocystis sp., 87.4% and $0.60d^{-1}$, respectively, for M. aeruginosa, 95.2% and $0.65d^{-1}$, respectively, for C. $vulgaris^{TM}$, 78.6% and $0.45d^{-1}$, respectively, for C. vulgaris UTEX., 86.5% and $0.99d^{-1}$, respectively, for Coelastrum sp., and 82.6% and $0.40d^{-1}$, respectively, for S. hantzchii. Of these, although the growth of Synechocystis and Coelastrum was effectively suppressed by rotifer grazing, efficient suppression effects on Stephanodiscus blooms were unexpected. The present study revealed that reproduction of B. calyciflorus was greatly influenced by its food types in the initial stages and the efficiencies of bio-agents as sole food sources vary depending on the target algae and the agent.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.163-175
• /
• 2019

To compare the nutritional quality of TPG (Teleaulax / Plagioselmis / Geminigera) clade species of cryptomonads with that of RHO (Rhodomonas / Rhinomonas / Storeatula) clade species 6 Teleaulax amphioxeia (TA) and 1 Rhinomonas sp. strains were mass-cultured in newly designed 500-L photobioreactors to the end of exponential growth phase. Intraspecific variations (IVs) in terms of one standard deviation among the 6 TA strains in the compositions of the three macronutrients were 41.5 (protein), 89.8 (lipid), and 15.6% (carbohydrate) of the mean. When harvested from stationary growth phase mean compositions of essential amino acids (EAAs, 47.3%) and non-EAAs (52.7%) of the 2 TA strains, CR-MAL07 and CR-MAL08-2, were similar to those of a Chroomonas strain. The IVs between the 2 TA strains in the composition of EAAs (10.3 and 2.4) and non-EAAs (8.5 and 2.1% of the mean) were rather smaller than those of saturated fatty acids (30.3 and 26.1) and unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs, 12.0 and 12.5% of the mean) in f/2-Si and urea-based compound fertilizer (UCF) culture media, respectively. Mean compositions of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 17.9%) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 12.7%) of total fatty acids of the 2 TA strains were higher than those that of a Chroomonas strain. EPA and DHA compositions exhibited similar level of IVs between the 2 TA strains in f/2-Si (14.6 and 11.0) and UCF media (12.6 and 13.5% of the mean). Thus, the nutritional quality in terms of amino acids, UFAs, EPA, and DHA in a TPG clade species, T. amphioxeia was comparable to those of RHO clade species with notable IVs. Practically, biotechnological targets for TPG clade cryptomonad strains might be subspecies or clone level.