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Microalgae and cyanobacteria are tiny, microscopic plant-like organisms that float in the water and grow using nutrients from the water, energy from the sun and carbon dioxide gas from the air. Most microalgae and cyanobacteria are helpful because, like grass for cows on land, they provide food for aquatic animals. However, some microalgae and cyanobacteria are poisonous and when large numbers of them occur, they are called harmful algal blooms, or HABs for short. HABs can poison both humans and animals through the food they eat, the water they drink, and even the air they breathe. HABs are increasing within lakes, rivers, oceans, and estuaries worldwide because of pollution and climate change. This article will tell you about HABs in San Francisco Estuary, USA: who they are, what they look like, why they occur, how they affect plants, animals and people, and things you can do as a HAB warrior to stay safe and prevent their spread.
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Tiny Phytoplankton: The Most Powerful Organisms of the Oceans!
Although sharks, whales, and other large organisms come to mind when one thinks about the most important or most powerful organisms of the sea, in fact, the most powerful are the tiny phytoplankton. Phytoplankton, which are microscopic algae, hold this power because they harvest the light from the sun, making food for all other organisms. Phytoplankton are the foundation for the ocean ecosystem. Through the process of photosynthesis, they also make oxygen and are responsible for almost half of the oxygen in the world. However, some phytoplankton can also be harmful and can kill fish or damage ecosystems. These harmful phytoplankton can also make people sick. The phytoplankton are tiny but mighty!
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- Award ID(s):
- 1911349
- PAR ID:
- 10300700
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers for Young Minds
- Volume:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 2296-6846
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Glass, Jennifer B. (Ed.)ABSTRACT Interactions between bacteria and phytoplankton can influence primary production, community composition, and algal bloom development. However, these interactions are poorly described for many consortia, particularly for freshwater bloom-forming cyanobacteria. Here, we assessed the gene content and expression of two uncultivated Acidobacteria from Lake Erie Microcystis blooms. These organisms were targeted because they were previously identified as important catalase producers in Microcystis blooms, suggesting that they protect Microcystis from H 2 O 2 . Metatranscriptomics revealed that both Acidobacteria transcribed genes for uptake of organic compounds that are known cyanobacterial products and exudates, including lactate, glycolate, amino acids, peptides, and cobalamins. Expressed genes for amino acid metabolism and peptide transport and degradation suggest that use of amino acids and peptides by Acidobacteria may regenerate nitrogen for cyanobacteria and other organisms. The Acidobacteria genomes lacked genes for biosynthesis of cobalamins but expressed genes for its transport and remodeling. This indicates that the Acidobacteria obtained cobalamins externally, potentially from Microcystis , which has a complete gene repertoire for pseudocobalamin biosynthesis; expressed them in field samples; and produced pseudocobalamin in axenic culture. Both Acidobacteria were detected in Microcystis blooms worldwide. Together, the data support the hypotheses that uncultured and previously unidentified Acidobacteria taxa exchange metabolites with phytoplankton during harmful cyanobacterial blooms and influence nitrogen available to phytoplankton. Thus, novel Acidobacteria may play a role in cyanobacterial physiology and bloom development. IMPORTANCE Interactions between heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton influence competition and successions between phytoplankton taxa, thereby influencing ecosystem-wide processes such as carbon cycling and algal bloom development. The cyanobacterium Microcystis forms harmful blooms in freshwaters worldwide and grows in buoyant colonies that harbor other bacteria in their phycospheres. Bacteria in the phycosphere and in the surrounding community likely influence Microcystis physiology and ecology and thus the development of freshwater harmful cyanobacterial blooms. However, the impacts and mechanisms of interaction between bacteria and Microcystis are not fully understood. This study explores the mechanisms of interaction between Microcystis and uncultured members of its phycosphere in situ with population genome resolution to investigate the cooccurrence of Microcystis and freshwater Acidobacteria in blooms worldwide.more » « less
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null (Ed.)Synopsis “Polar gigantism” describes a biogeographic pattern in which many ectotherms in polar seas are larger than their warmer-water relatives. Although many mechanisms have been proposed, one idea—the oxygen–temperature hypothesis—has received significant attention because it emerges from basic biophysical principles and is appealingly straightforward and testable. Low temperatures depress metabolic demand for oxygen more than supply of oxygen from the environment to the organism. This creates a greater ratio of oxygen supply to demand, releasing polar organisms from oxygen-based constraints on body size. Here we review evidence for and against the oxygen–temperature hypothesis. Some data suggest that larger-bodied taxa live closer to an oxygen limit, or that rising temperatures can challenge oxygen delivery systems; other data provide no evidence for interactions between body size, temperature, and oxygen sufficiency. We propose that these findings can be partially reconciled by recognizing that the oxygen–temperature hypothesis focuses primarily on passive movement of oxygen, implicitly ignoring other important processes including ventilation of respiratory surfaces or internal transport of oxygen by distribution systems. Thus, the hypothesis may apply most meaningfully to organisms with poorly developed physiological systems (eggs, embryos, egg masses, juveniles, or adults without mechanisms for ventilating internal or external surfaces). Finally, most tests of the oxygen–temperature hypothesis have involved short-term experiments. Many organisms can mount effective responses to physiological challenges over short time periods; however, the energetic cost of doing so may have impacts that appear only in the longer term. We therefore advocate a renewed focus on long-term studies of oxygen–temperature interactions.more » « less
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Who’s cooking, who’s cleaning, and who’s got the remote control within the waters blanketing Earth? Anatomically tiny, numerically dominant microbes are the crucial “homemakers” of the watery household. Phytoplankton’s culinary abilities enable them to create food by absorbing sunlight to fix carbon and release oxygen, making microbial autotrophs top-chefs in the aquatic kitchen. However, they are not the only bioengineers that balance this complex household. Ubiquitous heterotrophic microbes including prokaryotic bacteria and archaea (both “bacteria” henceforth), eukaryotic protists, and viruses, recycle organic matter and make inorganic nutrients available to primary producers. Grazing protists compete with viruses for bacterial biomass, whereas mixotrophic protists produce new organic matter as well as consume microbial biomass. When viruses press remote-control buttons, by modifying host genomes or lysing them, the outcome can reverberate throughout the microbial community and beyond. Despite recognition of the vital role of microbes in biosphere housekeeping, impacts of anthropogenic stressors and climate change on their biodiversity, evolution, and ecological function remain poorly understood. How trillions of the smallest organisms in Earth’s largest ecosystem respond will be hugely consequential. By making the study of ecology personal, the “housekeeping” perspective can provide better insights into changing ecosystem structure and function at all scales.more » « less
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Abstract Protein therapeutics are powerful tools in the fight against diabetes, cancers, growth disorders, and many other debilitating diseases. However, availability is limited due to cost and complications of production from living organisms. To make life‐saving protein therapeutics more available to the world, the possibility of magistral or point‐of‐care protein therapeutic production has gained focus. The recent invention and optimization of lyophilized “cell‐free” protein synthesis reagents and its demonstrated ability to produce highly active versions of FDA‐approved cancer therapeutics have increased its potential for low‐cost, single‐batch, magistral medicine. Here we present for the first time the concept of increased oxygen mass transfer in small‐batch, cell‐free protein synthesis (CFPS) reactions through air‐water foams. These “hydrofoam” reactions increased CFPS yields by up to 100%. Contrary to traditional protein synthesis using living organisms, where foam bubbles cause cell‐lysis and production losses, hydrofoam CFPS reactions are “cell‐free” and better tolerate foaming. Simulation and experimental results suggest that oxygen transfer is limiting in even small volume batch CFPS reactors and that the hydrofoam format improved oxygen transfer. This is further supported by CFPS reactions achieving higher yields when oxygen gas replaces air in the headspace of batch reactions. Improving CFPS yields with hydrofoam reduces the overall cost of biotherapeutic production, increasing availability to the developing world. Beyond protein therapeutic production, hydrofoam CFPS could also be used to enhance other CFPS applications including biosensing, biomanufacturing, and biocatalysis.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2021.600102
