A Fateful Meeting of Two Phytoplankton Species—Chemical vs. Cell-Cell-Interactions in Co-Cultures of the Green Algae Oocystis marsonii and the Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa

Susanne Dunker; Julia Althammer; Georg Pohnert; Christian Wilhelm

doi:10.1007/s00248-016-0927-1

A Fateful Meeting of Two Phytoplankton Species—Chemical vs. Cell-Cell-Interactions in Co-Cultures of the Green Algae Oocystis marsonii and the Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa

Microbial Ecology ◽

10.1007/s00248-016-0927-1 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 74 (1) ◽

pp. 22-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Susanne Dunker ◽

Julia Althammer ◽

Georg Pohnert ◽

Christian Wilhelm

Keyword(s):

Microcystis Aeruginosa ◽

Green Algae ◽

Cell Interactions ◽

Phytoplankton Species ◽

Cell Cell

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Demographic responses of selected rotifers (Rotifera) and cladocerans (Cladocera) fed toxic Microcystis aeruginosa (Cyanobacteria)

Fundamental and Applied Limnology / Archiv für Hydrobiologie ◽

10.1127/fal/2020/1285 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 193 (3) ◽

pp. 261-274

Author(s):

Alfredo Pérez-Morales ◽

S.S.S. Sarma ◽

S. Nandini ◽

Cristian Alberto Espinosa-Rodríguez ◽

Ligia Rivera-De la Parra

Keyword(s):

Population Growth ◽

Life Table ◽

Microcystis Aeruginosa ◽

Green Algae ◽

Somatic Growth ◽

Phytoplankton Species ◽

Scenedesmus Acutus ◽

Cladoceran Species ◽

Toxic Cyanobacteria ◽

Demographic Responses

Tropical waterbodies contain several species of toxic cyanobacteria including Microcystis, which adversely affect the somatic growth, survival and fecundity of zooplankton. Scenedesmus, one of the most common green algae, is even found in Microcystis -dominated waterbodies. It is, therefore possible that in natural ponds, rotifers and cladocerans feed on mixed phytoplankton species containing algae and cyanobacteria. In this work, we quantified demographic responses of three rotifer species (Brachionus calyciflorus, B. rubens, and Plationus patulus), and three cladoceran species (Simocephalus mixtus, Daphnia cf. mendotae and Moina macrocopa) fed toxic Microcystis aeruginosa only or mixed with Scenedesmus acutus. The highest population growth for both rotifer and cladoceran species was observed when Scenedesmus was offered alone or at 75 % of the diet. Daphnia cf. mendotae and B. rubens were less affected by Microcystis while M. macrocopa and B. calyciflorus were more adversely influenced, which was also corroborated by life table demography. In competition bioassays, D. cf. mendotae was more efficient, alone or in competition, when fed with 50 or 25 % of Microcystis. This work explains the dynamics of the zooplanktonic community against gradual changes in phytoplankton due to the presence of cyanobacteria.

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