Analysis of the Meteorological Conditions for Outbreak of Blue-green Algae in Hongze Lake

Based on the data of 18 cases during the past 30 years from 1978 to 2007,the major meteorological conditions for outbreak of blue-green alga in Hongze Lake were analyzed.The results showed that the main meteorological conditions that affected the production and outbreak of blue-green alga were unusual high monthly average temperature,less precipitation and more sunshine hours in ten days.Through the selection of 1 or 0 factors on the values of above meteorological conditions over the years,if the conditions were accorded with the outbreak of blue-green alga,the factor was signed as 1,or it would be signed as 0;if there was outbreak of blue-green alga within ten days,it was signed as 1,or it would be signed as 0;crossing interrelated and integrated prediction method was adopted to establish the prediction equation for outbreak of blue-green alga,the historical fitting rate was 87.5%,and the predicting accuracy rate in 2008-2009 was 87.5%.In addition to meteorological conditions,outbreak of blue-green alga was also influenced by industrial pollutions,etc.,which should be considered in the forecasting procedures.

BLUE-GREEN ALGAE TOXINS AND LIVER CANCER

Microcystins (MCYSTs) isolated from blue-green algae,are hepatotoxic polypeptides.It will induce severe intrahepatic hemorrhage and liver necrosis at low concentrations in rats and mice.MCYST- LR is one of MCYSTs which consists of 2 variable L- amino acids(leucine and arginine),3 D-amino acids and 2 unusualamino acids(including Adda).MCYSTs bind to protein phosphatase 1 and 2A,and strongly inhibit their activities.The resultant increase of phosphoprotein was referred to be involved in tumor-promoting activity in liver.According to the above results and animal study,MCYST-LR is a potent liver tumor promoter.There were 9 positive from 30 samples of pond-ditch water in high endemic county-Haimen by high-peformance liquid chromatograph and 3 already confirmed by liquid chromograph/mass spectrometer.The quantities of MCYSTs were different between drinking water of liver cancer cases and controls groups.122±0.057and 0.072±0.044μg/200ml respectively) by ELISA. It is not easy to remove by conventional water treatment procedures.The relationship between MCYSTs and oncogenes and anti-oncogenes are under studying.

Present Situation and Control Ideas of Outbreak of Blue-green Algae in Freshwater Lakes in China

Based on the experience and lessons from previous control of lakes, as well as the present situation of water eutrophication and outbreak of blue-green algae in lakes, general ideas of controlling outbreak of blue-green algae in large and middle lakes were proposed. Firstly, it is needed to control serious outbreak of blue-green algae and then build health aquatic ecosystems and corresponding control goals finally. Secondly, quantity of blue-green algae in lakes and lake eutrophication should be reduced at the same time. Thirdly, quantity of reduced blue-green algae must exceed the natural increase of them in quantity persistently, so that outbreak of blue-green algae will reduce and even be eliminated. Fourthly, engineering measures and corresponding safeguard measures to control outbreak of blue-green algae in lakes should be combined.

ISOLATION OF PLASMID FROM THE BLUE-GREEN ALGA SPIRULINA PLATENSIS

CCC plasmid was isolated from an economically important blue-green alga- Spirulina platensis (1.7×106 dalton from the S6 strain and 1.2×106 dalton from the F, strain) using a rapid method based on ultrasonic disruption of algal cells and alkaline removal of chromosomal DNA. The difference in the molecular weight of the OOC DNAs from the two strains differing in form suggests that plasmid may be related with the differentiation of algal form. This modified method, which does not use any lysozyme, is a quick and effective method of plasmid isolation, especially for filamentous blue-green algae.

Setting up the Goal of Eliminating Outbreaks of Blue-green Alga, Innovating the Idea of Controlling the Taihu Lake, and Ensuring the Safety of Water Supply in the Taihu Lake

Since the water supply crisis in the Taihu Lake on May 29,2007,the control of the Taihu Lake has achieved remarkable results,and the eutrophication has been greatly reduced.Existing problems are as follows:outbreaks of blue-green alga still appear seriously every year,and there is no goal to eliminate outbreaks of blue-green alga;the load into the lake greatly exceeds the environmental capacity;reed wetlands are greatly reduced;there is still the possibility of a water supply crisis;the research of eliminating outbreak of blue-green alga is weak.In this paper,the experience of controlling the Taihu Lake is summarized,and the ultimate goals of eliminating eutrophication and outbreaks of blue-green alga and restoring wetlands and biodiversity are proposed.Control measures are proposed,such as deepening the promotion of the lake chief system,establishing the lake chief system in an all-round way,and increasing applied scientific and technological efforts and capital investment.The necessity and possibility of further controlling the Taihu Lake to eliminate outbreaks of blue-green alga should be recognized.Relying on controlling eutrophication alone cannot eliminate outbreaks of blue-green alga.The point that phosphorus control is the key to eliminate outbreaks of blue-green alga is not suitable for the Taihu Lake.The integration ideas of"three types"of technologies should be innovated.The first one is"double reduction and double increase"measures to eliminate eutrophication,of which"double reduction"is to reduce external point sources and non-point sources and internal blue-green alga in sediment;for external sources,the treatment standard of sewage plants should be paid special attention to.The second one is"double algae removal"measures to salvage blue-green alga,suppresses and kills algae.The blue-green alga on the surface,middle and bottom of water should be thoroughly salvaged and eliminated from various water areas.The third one is"double restoration"measures to restore wetlands and biodiversity.The area of wetlands should be restored to the area from the 1960s to the 1970s before outbreaks of blue-green alga,and vegetation coverage reaches 25%-30%.The Taihu Lake is controlled in different waters to ensure water supply safety in water sources.Five suggestions are proposed,such as revising the"Overall Plan for the Comprehensive Treatment of Water Environment in the Taihu Lake Basin"again,incorporating the goal of eliminating outbreaks of blue-green alga in the plan,setting up this research topic,greatly improving sewage treatment standards in local legislation.

Computer simulation on kinetics of primary process in photosynthesis of algae (Ⅳ)——Excitation energy transfer in phycobilisomes from blue-green algae

A more exact model of phycobilisomes has been designed with the rods composed of the hexamer disks and an abstract allophycocyanin (APC) core. Based on this model, the excitation energy transfer was simulated using the computer simulation technique. The simulation shows that the excitation energy is transferred from the outlayer disk to the core in a partly reversible way in phycobilisomes, and that the transfer rate from the last disk to the core is less than those between disks. The energy transfer between the two trimers in a hexamer is dominantly through the α84-chromophores (m), while that between the disks is through the β84-chromophores (f) that are also responsible for the transfer of energy into the core.

Aquatic Toxicities of Three Aryloxyphenoxypropanoic Acid Herbicides on Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa

Pesticides will be released into aquatic systems after application in agriculture or industry. AOPPs （aryloxyphenoxypropanoic acids） herbicides, including fenoxaprop, quizalofop-P-ethyl and haloxyfop-methyl, can pose aquatic toxicity on cyanobacterium M. aeruginosa （Microcystis aeruginosa）. The inhibition percentages of the biomass of M. aeruginosa exposure to 10 mg＇L-I fenoxaprop, quizalofop-P-ethyl and haloxyfop-methyl on day 7 were 23.13%, 7.55%, and 7.56%, respectively. Protein content was also inhibited by the three AOPPs to fenoxaprop is the most toxic, followed by quizalofop-P-ethyl varying degrees. The growth and protein content results showed that and haloxyfop-methyl. It indicates that both the biomass and the protein content can be served as an indicator for evaluating the toxicity of the three chemicals. Growth rates of M. aeruginosa exposure to fenoxaprop are also the most significantly different compared to the control, which means that fenoxaprop is the most toxic among the three compounds. Results from this study may provide insights for evaluation of environmental risks of AOPPs. In addition, such insights will be helpful for guiding the application of AOPPs in agriculture.

Physicochemical and Thermal Characterization of the Spirulina platensis

Cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis is commercially produced as a nutrient source for food,animal feed and pharmaceutical industries,and is also explored in other applications in areas such as material sciences,materials engineering and for the production of biofuels and biochemicals.Due to the increasing interest in the use of this microalga,a complete characterization was intended,as to provide data to the insufficient literature.In this work,various techniques were used for thermal(thermogravimetric analysis(TGA)/derivative thermogravimetry(DTG),differential scanning calorimetry(DSC)),structural(scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and wide-angle X-ray diffraction(XRD))and chemical(atomic absorption spectroscopy(AAS),attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(ATR-FTIR),energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX))characterization of Spirulina cultivated in Brazil.Results have shown that in addition to the high quantity of protein(over 50%),Brazilian Spirulina is a source for carbohydrates(33%)and also has good thermal stability up to 200°C.The pigment protein Phycocyanin could be identified by FTIR and ultraviolet-visible(UV-vis)spectroscopy.Results show favorable properties of Spirulina as a source for new materials and biomass.

The New Pest Scatella tenuicosta Collin （Diptera： Ephydridae） for Spirulina Ponds

The goal of this study was to discover Scatella tenuicosta Collin （Diptera： Ephydridae） for the first time as a pest on blue-green algae Spirulina platensis. This algae has been recognized as a very important commercial product in the world today and as one of the most promising ones among the other microscopic algae due to its richness in polyunsaturated fatty acids, as well as in gamma-linolenic acid （GLA）, and in pigments including phycocyanin, myxoxanthophyll and zeaxanthin. Both immature and adult development stages ofS. tenuicosta have been studied under the temperature of 15±2℃. The development times for eggs, larval stages, including first, second, and third one, and for pupae as well as for adults were found to be 1.4, 1.0, 1.1, 1.1, 3.0 and 8.7 respectively. Some pest control practices ofS. tenuicosta on S. platensis have been also examined in this study.

State transition in blue-green alga Synechocystis PCC 6803

The mechanism of state transition in blue-green alga Synechocystis PCC 6803 was investigated by using modulated fluorescence. NaF, an inhibitor of phosphatase, did not inhibit state Ⅱ to state Ⅰ transition . Rotenone, a specific inhibitor of NAD(P)H ubiquinone reductase, stimulated transition from state Ⅱ to state I in dark. The results suggest that state transition in blue-green alga Synechocystis PCC 6803 is controlled by redox state of plastiquinone pool, but not by the phosphorylation of thylakoid membrane proteins.

Cyanobacterial bloom dynamics in Lake Taihu

Lake Taihu is the third largest freshwater lake in China and serves as an important drinking water source for the local populace;however,decades of excessive nutrient loading fueled by anthropogenic activities have resulted in hypertrophic conditions,promoting the annual formation of nuisance phytoplankton blooms（Chen et al.,2003;Duan et al.,2009）