Application of rotifer Brachionus plicatilis in detecting the toxicity of harmful algae

The toxicity of seven major HAB (harmful algal bloom) species/strains, Prorocentrum donghaiense, Phaeocystis globosa, Prorocentrum micans, Alexandrium tamarense (AT-6, non-PSP producer), Alexandrium lusitanicum, Alexandrum tamarense (ATHK) and Heterosigma akashiwo were studied against rotifer Brachionus plicatilis under laboratory conditions. The results show that P. donghaiense, P. globosa, P. micans, A. tamarense (AT-6), or A. lusitanicum could maintain the individual survival and reproduction, as well as the population increase of the rotifer, but the individual reproduction would decrease when exposed to these five algae at higher densities for nine days; H. akashiwo could decrease the individual survival and reproduction, as well as population increase of the rotifer, which is similar to that of the starvation group, indicating that starvation might be its one lethal factor except for the algal toxins; A. tamarense (ATHK) has strong lethal effect on the rotifer with 48h LC₅₀ at 800 cells/mL. The experiment on ingestion ability indicated by gut pigment change shows that P. donghaiense, P. globosa, P. micans, A. tamarense (AT-6) and A. lusitanicum can be taken by the rotifers as food, but A. tamarense (ATHK) or H. akashiwo can be ingested by the rotifers. The results indicate that all the indexes of individual survival and reproduction, population increase, gut pigment change of the rotifers are good and convenient to be used to reflect the toxicities of HAB species. Therefore, rotifer is suggested as one of the toxicity testing organisms in detecting the toxicity of harmful algae. Supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-YW-208), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40821004, U0733006) and National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, No. 2001CB409700)     

Offspring of aged mothers of rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus shows lower sexual propensity than their elder siblings under crowded conditions

Maternal eff ects are one of the most interesting topics in evolutionary ecology as they can aff ect the rate of evolution and population dynamics by phenotypic manipulation of off spring related to fi tness. At present, studies examining the interaction between maternal environment eff ects and maternal age (birth order) eff ects are scarce. We designed an experiment to reveal whether environmentally induced maternal manipulation works equally on off spring across birth orders in rotifer Brachionus calycifl orus. In the experiment, newborn amictic mothers (F0) were cultured parallelly in low (LD) and high (HD) population density. Off spring (F1) of young (YF0) and old (OF0) mothers in both LD and HD groups were cultured under a crowded condition and the mixis ratios of both F1 and F2 were examined. Results show that F1 from HD-YF0 had a signifi cantly higher mixis ratio and those amictic ones produced daughters (F2 ) with higher mixis ratio in response to crowding than those from HD-OF0. In contrast, no such diff erences among F1 siblings were found in the LD-F0 group. Therefore, the eff ect of maternal age on the sexual propensity of the off spring can be aff ected independently by the maternal population density.     

UV-B辐射对2种海水轮虫的致死效应

运用生态毒理学方法研究了UV-B辐射对褶皱臂尾轮虫(Brachionusplicatilis)和壶状臂尾轮虫(Brachionusurceus)的致死效应,旨在为阐明UV-B辐射对海洋生态系统的影响和建立指示UV-B辐射的生态毒理学指标体系提供科学依据。结果表明:UV-B辐射对2种轮虫都有严重的伤害作用,且当辐射强度达一定强度阈值会对其产生急性致死作用。实验测得:UV-B辐射对2种轮虫的急性致死强度阈值为:(50±10)μW/cm2;24h,48h和96h的半致死剂量:褶皱臂尾轮虫为4.393,2.694和1.720kJ/m2;壶状臂尾轮虫为5.856,4.516和1.730kJ/m2。由此可知,本实验UV-B辐射剂量范围和观察时间内,褶皱臂尾轮虫在UV-B辐射处理后的24h和48h内对UV-B辐射的敏感性相对要大于壶状臂尾轮虫,而在UV-B辐射处理后的96h内2种轮虫对UV-B辐射的敏感性则相近。     

Lake Shira, a Siberian salt lake: ecosystem structure and function. 2. Brachionus plicatilis (Rotatoria) growth and development

The growth and development of Brachionus plicatilis (Müller), a rotifer and one of the most abundant zooplankton species in Lake Shira, a saline lake at low temperature in the Republic of Khakassia, was studied in cultures at different trophic conditions. Growth indices were evaluated at natural (lake) concentrations of bacteria, Chlorella vulgaris, a microalga, and Candida utilis, a yeast. The negative effect on rotifer reproduction in the algal-bacterial community by blue-green algae was demonstrated. The ratio of ontogenetic periods was shown to be in accord with species and food concentration. Base values required to calculate B. plicatilis population simulation model parameters were defined.     

温度和食物密度对两种形态型裂足臂尾轮虫(Brachionus diversicornis)生活史特征和后代形态型的影响

运用单个体培养方法研究了温度(15℃、20℃、25℃和30℃)和斜生栅藻(Scenedesmus obliquus)密度(0.75×106、1.5×106、3.0×106和6.0 x 106 cells/ml)对等棘刺型和不等棘刺型裂足臂尾轮虫(Brachionus diversicornis)的净生殖率、种群内禀增长...     

不同地理区域湖泊中萼花臂尾轮虫的生活史特征

以3.0×106cells/ml的斜生栅藻(Scenedesmus obliquus)为食物,应用生命表统计学等方法比较研究了于2008年冬季采自芜湖市汀棠湖和广州市荔湾湖的萼花臂尾轮虫(Brachionus calyciflorus)在不同温度(10℃、15℃和20℃)下的生活史特征.结果显示,10℃下,芜湖种群除内禀增长率外的其他各生命表统计学参数均显著大于广州种群.15℃下,芜湖种群仅世代时间和后代混交率显著大于广州种群.20℃下,芜湖种群的世代时间和后代混交率显著大于广州种群,而总生殖率、净生殖率和内禀增长率则相反.两地理种群轮虫出生时的生命期望、世代时间和平均寿命均随温度的升高而逐渐显著地缩短,内禀增长率随温度的升高而逐渐显著地增大;但缩短或增大的速率在两地理种群间存在着差异.芜湖种群的总生殖率和净生殖率不受温度的显著影响;而广州种群的总生殖率随温度升高而逐渐显著地增大,净生殖率在20℃和15℃下无显著差异,但都显著高于10℃下.芜湖种群的后代混交率在10℃下显著高于20℃下,但均与15℃间无显著性差异;广州种群的后代混交率随温度的升高而逐渐显著地增大.两地理种群内禀增长率间的差异可能与各自对所栖息的水环境年平均温度的长期适应有关,而后代混交率间的差异则是它们对水温季节变化长期适应的结果.     

Effect of UV-B radiation on the feeding behavior of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis

Effect of UV-B radiation on the feeding behaviour of marine zooplankton is important to assessing the health harm of marine ecosystem due to the gradually enhanced UV-B radiation in air. However, there are a few studies on this topic. The feeding behavior of the rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis, under the treatment of UV-B radiation on five species of microalgae, i.e., Chlorella sp., Tetraselmis chuii, Isochrysis galbana Park 8701, Chaetoceros muelleri Lermumerman, and Nitzschia clostertum, was studied. The results showed that the filtering and feeding rates of the rotifer decreased significantly with the dose increase of UV-B radiation when fed with five species of microalgae respectively (P<0.05) which indicates UV-B radiation inhibits the feeding activities of the rotifer on microalage. The mixed culture experiments shows the rotifer preferred to feed Chlorella sp., then C. muelleri,I. galbana, N. clostertum and T. chuii in turn if without UV-B radiation. Under the highest dose of UV-B radiation treatment (2.70 kJ/m2), the rotifer preferred to feed C. muelleri, then Chlorella sp., N. clostertum, I. galbana and T. chuii in turn. Chlorella sp., I. galbana and C. muelleri became the more favorite foods of the rotifer while T. chuii and N. clostertum became less favorite foods. The change of feeding rate and feeding selectivity of zooplankton driven by the enhanced UV-B radiation will lead to the change in the structure of phytoplankton community.     

褶皱臂尾轮虫(Brachionus plicatilis)复合种休眠卵孵化的调控因子及其作用机制的研究

褶臂尾轮虫(Brachionus plicatilis O.F. Müller，以下简称Bp)和圆形臂尾轮虫(B.rotundiformis Tschugunoff，简称Br)(Segers，1995)是轮虫门(Rotifera)单卵巢纲(Monogononta)的两个海水种或半咸水种，过去曾分别被认为是褶皱臂尾轮虫的L型和S型品系，现统称为褶皱臂尾轮虫复合种(B.plicatilis complex)(Yufera，2001)。由于该种分布广，在世界范围内被广泛用作多种海水鱼的种苗培育的重要开口饵料，因而成为单卵巢纲中最具经济意义和极受各国研究者关注的种类。作为单卵巢纲轮虫的共同特征Bp和Br轮虫进行无性生殖(或孤雌生殖)兼有性生殖，两种生殖世代交替发生而完成其生活周期，休眠卵即是有性生殖的最终产物——卵膜加厚的受精卵(King et al，1977a，b；Snell，1987).在实际生产中，休眠卵是轮虫储存、运输和孵化应用的最理想形式；而在生物学意义上，它不仅是轮虫用以抵抗或度过不良环境期，并向新的生存空间散布或拓展的特殊生活阶段，而且可通过一定时间的休眠和一定条件下的孵化，决定着下一生活周期的起始，从而控制着轮虫生活周期的节奏。尤其是休眠卵经孵化而启动新一轮无性生殖世代，一方面承传和实现了前一世代的遗传特性和基因重组结果，另一方面也为轮虫的生殖表现和遗传特性得以在新环境下产生新的适应性变化提供了条件。鉴于上述重要的实际和理论意义，多年来对休眠卵的休眠与孵化的研究深受各国学者的重视。Gilbert(1974)、 Pourriot等(1983)已就国际上的有关研究进行了详细综述，最近席贻龙等(1999)结合国内的有关报道对该领域的进展亦作了进一步概括。这些论述均泛指单卵巢纲诸多种类的休眠与孵化问题，且多数结果来自淡水轮虫的研究。本文的讨论将主要针对海水或半咸水的褶皱臂尾轮虫复合种，就有关调控或影响其休眠卵孵化的各种内、外因子及其作用机理的研究概况作一综述。     

Application of rotifer Brachionus plicatilis in detecting the toxicity of harmful algae

The toxicity of seven major HAB (harmful algal bloom) species/strains, Prorocentrum donghaiense, Phaeocystis globosa, Prorocentrum micans, Alexandrium tamarense (AT-6, non-PSP producer), Alexandrium lusitanicum, Alexandrum tamarense (ATHK) and Heterosigma akashiwo were studied against rotifer Brachionus plicatilis under laboratory conditions. The results show that P. donghaiense, P. globosa, P. micans, A. tamarense (AT-6), or A. lusitanicum could maintain the individual survival and reproduction, as well as the population increase of the rotifer, but the individual reproduction would decrease when exposed to these five algae at higher densities for nine days; H. akashiwo could decrease the individual survival and reproduction, as well as population increase of the rotifer, which is similar to that of the starvation group, indicating that starvation might be its one lethal factor except for the algal toxins; A. tamarense (ATHK) has strong lethal effect on the rotifer with 48h LC50 at 800 cells/mL. The experiment on ingestion ability indicated by gut pigment change shows that P.donghaiense, P. globosa, P. micans, A. tamarense (AT-6) and A. lusitanicum can be taken by the rotifers as food, but A. tamarense (ATHK) or H. akashiwo can be ingested by the rotifers. The results indicate that all the indexes of individual survival and reproduction, population increase, gut pigment change of the rotifers are good and convenient to be used to reflect the toxicities of HAB species. Therefore, rotifer is suggested as one of the toxicity testing organisms in detecting the toxicity of harmful algae.     

Effect of Single Species or Mixed Algal (Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus acutus) Diets on the Life Table Demography of Brachionus calyciflorus and Brachionus patulus (Rotifera: Brachionidae)

We tested the effect of two algal diets (Chlorella vulgaris at 1 · 10⁶ cells mL^?1and Scenedesmus acutus at 0.57 · 10⁶ cells mL^?1) offered alone or in combination (50 % each, 75 % or 25 % of either alga), at a total dry weight of 14.2 μg mL^?1on the life table demography of two rotifer species, Brachionus calyciflorus and Brachionus patulus. Data on fecundity indicated that, for any given algal food type or combination of food types, B. calyciflorus had a higher rate of offspring production than B. patulus. Regardless of the rotifer species, the average lifespan varied from 4 to 6 days. The gross and net reproductive rates were higher for B. calyciflorus than for B. patulus. These values ranged from 45 to 71 offspring female^?1 lifespan^?1 and 15 to 24 offspring female^?1 lifespan^?1, respectively, for B. calyciflorus. Generation times (around 4…5 days) were similar for both rotifer species in most of the treatments. Whatever the algal food combination, the rate of population increase (d^?1) of B. patulus was less than half (i.e. 45 %) of that for B. calyciflorus. The observed differences in the life history variables of Brachionus probably explain species‐specific adaptations to the changing phytoplankton composition occurring seasonally in natural waterbodies.