Three new species of Batrachospermum Roth (Batrachosper-maceae,Rhodophyta) in China

Three new species of Batrachospermum Roth (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) from China are described in this paper. B. yunnanense sp. nov. has long-cylindrical trichogynes with long stalks and is diagnostic of section Virescentia. Within this section, B. yunnanense is similar to B. helminthosum Bory emend. Sheath et al., but it is dioecious and has curved carpogonial branches, while the latter is monoecious and has straight carpogonial branches. It is also similar to B. transtaganum Reis, but it differs from the latter in long carpogonia, big carposporophytes and carposporangia. It is considered that B. nothocladoideum sp. nov. is assigned to section Contorta, subsection Kushiroense, because its carpogonial branches are twisted and gonimoblast filaments are loosely agglomerated. This new species similar to B. iriomotense Kumano, but with short fascicles, long-ovoid or subpyriform cells, numerous terminal hairs, long-ellipsoid trichogynes, big carposporophytes and small carpo- sporangia. The plant is quite tough and cartilaginous and similar to Nothocladus in gross morphology, but its carposporophytes are compact instead of diffuse. This shows that it may be a transitional species between section Contorta and genus Nothocladus. So, B. transitorium sp. nov. should belong to section Contorta, subsection Kushiroense, because of its curved or twisted carpogonial branches and loosely agglomerated gonimoblast filaments, with globose or subglobose cells in fascicles similar to B. spermatiophorum Vis et Sheath, but no colourless spermatiophores. In terms of small and numerous carposporophytes, B. transitorium sp. nov. is similar to some species of section Batrachospermum. However, their other features are unique, indicating its transitional nature between section Contorta and Batrachospermum.

The role of phosphorus in the metabolism of arsenate by a freshwater green alga, Chlorella vulgaris

A freshwater microalga, Chlorella vulgaris, was grown in the presence of varying phosphate concentrations（〈 10–500 μg/L P） and environmentally realistic concentrations of arsenate（As（Ⅴ））（5–50 μg/L As）. Arsenic speciation in the culture medium and total cellular arsenic were measured using AEC-ICP-MS and ICP-DRC-MS, respectively, to determine arsenic biotransformation and uptake in the various phosphorus scenarios. At high phosphate concentration in the culture medium, 〉 100 μg/L P, the uptake and biotransformation of As（Ⅴ） was minimal and dimethylarsonate（DMAs（Ⅴ）） was the dominant metabolite excreted by C. vulgaris, albeit at relatively low concentrations. At common environmental P concentrations, 0–50 μg/L P, the uptake and biotransformation of As（Ⅴ） increased. At these higher As-uptake levels, arsenite（As（Ⅲ）） was the predominant metabolite excreted from the cell. The concentrations of As（Ⅲ） in these low P conditions were much higher than the concentrations of methylated arsenicals observed at the various P concentrations studied. The switchover threshold between the（small） methylation and（large） reduction of As（Ⅴ） occurred around a cellular As concentration of 1 fg/cell. The observed nearly quantitative conversion of As（Ⅴ） to As（Ⅲ） under low phosphate conditions indicates the importance of As（Ⅴ） bio-reduction at common freshwater P concentrations. These findings on the influence of phosphorus on arsenic uptake, accumulation and excretion are discussed in relation to previously published research. The impact that the two scenarios of As（Ⅴ） metabolism, As（Ⅲ） excretion at high As（Ⅴ）-uptake and methylarsenical excretion at low As（Ⅴ）-uptake, have on freshwater arsenic speciation is discussed.