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Inorganic Phosphorus (inorganic + phosphorus)
Selected AbstractsPhosphorus-limited growth dynamics in two Baltic Sea cyanobacteria, Nodularia sp. and Aphanizomenon sp.FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2006Jenny Degerholm Abstract Rates of carbon (C) specific growth and nitrogen (N2) fixation were monitored in cultures of Baltic Sea Nodularia and Aphanizomenon exposed to gradual limitation by inorganic phosphorus (P). Both cyanobacteria responded by decreased cellular P content followed by lowered rates of growth and N2 fixation. C-specific growth and cellular N content changed faster in Aphanizomenon both when inorganic P was lowered as well as during reintroduction of P. Aphanizomenon also showed a more rapid increase in N-specific N2 fixation associated with increased C-specific growth. When ambient concentrations of inorganic P declined, both cyanobacteria displayed higher rates of alkaline phosphatase (APase) activity. Lower substrate half-saturation constants (KM) and higher Vmax : KM ratio of the APase enzyme associated with Nodularia suggest a higher affinity for dissolved organic P (DOP) substrate than Aphanizomenon. Aphanizomenon, which appears more sensitive to changes in ambient dissolved inorganic P, may be adapted to environments with elevated concentrations of P or repeated intrusions of nutrient-rich water. Nodularia on the other hand, with its higher tolerance to increased P starvation may have an ecological advantage in stratified surface waters of the Baltic Sea during periods of low P availability. [source] Relationships between picophytoplankton and environmental variables in lakes along a gradient of water colour and nutrient contentFRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2003Stina Drakare SUMMARY 1. Biomass and production of picophytoplankton, phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacterioplankton were measured in seven lakes, exhibiting a broad range in water colour because of humic substances. The aim of the study was to identify environmental variables explaining the absolute and relative importance of picophytoplankton. In addition, two dystrophic lakes were fertilised with inorganic phosphorus and nitrogen, to test eventual nutrient limitation of picophytoplankton in these systems. 2. Picophytoplankton biomass and production were highest in lakes with low concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and DOC proved the factor explaining most variation in picophytoplankton biomass and production. The relationship between picophytoplankton and lake trophy was negative, most likely because much P was bound in humic complexes. Picophytoplankton biomass decreased after the additions of P and N. 3. Compared with heterotrophic bacterioplankton, picophytoplankton were most successful at the clearwater end of the lake water colour gradient. Phytoplankton dominated over heterotrophic bacteria in the clearwater systems possibly because heterotrophic bacteria in such lakes are dependent on organic carbon produced by phytoplankton. 4. Compared with other phytoplankton, picophytoplankton did best at intermediate DOC concentrations; flagellates dominated in the humic lakes and large autotrophic phytoplankton in the clearwater lakes. 5. Picophytoplankton were not better competitors than large phytoplankton in situations when heterotrophic bacteria had access to a non-algal carbon source. Neither did their small size lead to picophytoplankton dominance over large phytoplankton in the clearwater lakes. Possible reasons include the ability of larger phytoplankton to float or swim to reduce sedimentation losses and to acquire nutrients by phagotrophy. [source] Phytate degradation by micro-organisms in synthetic media and pea flourJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2002M. Fredrikson Aims: To screen micro-organisms for the ability to produce phytase enzyme(s) and to use promising strains for the fermentation of pea flour. Methods and Results: Two methods using the indirect estimation of phytate degradation were evaluated and both shown to be inadequate. A third method, measuring the inositol phosphate (IP3,IP6) content directly during fermentation, was used instead of the indirect estimations of phytate degradation. In synthetic media, some strains required customized conditions, with no accessible phosphorus sources other than phytate, to express phytase activity. The repression of phytase synthesis by inorganic phosphorus was not detected during fermentation with pea flour as substrate and seemed to be less significant with a higher composition complexity of the substrate. None of the tested lactic acid bacteria strains showed phytase activity. Conclusions: The methodology for the phytase screening procedure was shown to be critical. Some of the screening methods and media used in previous publications were found to be inadequate. Significance and Impact of the Study: This paper highlights the pitfalls and difficulties in the evaluation of phytase production by micro-organisms. The study is of great importance for future studies in this area. [source] Haematology and blood chemistry of Cebus apella in relation to sex and ageJOURNAL OF MEDICAL PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 6 2001M. Cristina Riviello An effective health care program entails the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of medical problems. A knowledge of baseline values in clinically normal individuals is essential for determining the limits between good health and disease and for understanding the changes produced by pathogenic agents. However, very little information is currently available concerning the blood chemistry and haematological values of different species of monkeys, particularly new-world primates. The values of some haematological and chemical parameters in Cebus apella were determined. The aim of the present work was to verify the effect of age and sex on normal blood values. Blood samples were collected once a year for two successive years from 36 monkeys living in large captive social groups. Significant differences between males and females were found for AST, GGT, urea nitrogen and creatinine, erythrocytes, haemoglobin and haematocrit. Significant differences between juveniles and adults were found for calcium, AST, alkaline phosphatase, inorganic phosphorus, glucose, neutrophils, lymphocytes and serum protein parameters. [source] PULSES OF PHOSPHATE PROMOTE DOMINANCE OF THE TOXIC CYANOPHYTE CYLINDROSPERMOPSIS RACIBORSKII IN A SUBTROPICAL WATER RESERVOIR,JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Amanda J. Posselt The role of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) in promoting dominance of the toxic nitrogen (N)-fixing cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Wo,osz.) Seenayya et Subba Raju was examined in a subtropical water reservoir, Lake Samsonvale (=North Pine reservoir). A novel in situ bioassay approach, using dialysis tubing rather than bottles or bags, was used to determine the change in C. raciborskii dominance with daily additions of DIP. A statistically significant increase in dominance of C. raciborskii was observed when DIP was added at two concentrations (0.32 ,M and 16 ,M) in a daily pulse over a 4 d period in three separate experiments in the summer of 2006/2007. There was an increase in both C. raciborskii cell concentrations and biovolume in two DIP treatments, but not in the ammoniacal N + DIP treatment. In addition, overall phytoplankton cell concentrations increased with DIP addition, indicating that Lake Samsonvale was DIP limited at the time of experiments. Given the bioassay response, it is likely that dominance of C. raciborskii could increase in Lake Samsonvale with periodic injections of DIP such as inflow events. [source] Above and below ground impacts of terrestrial mammals and birds in a tropical forestOIKOS, Issue 4 2008Amy E. Dunham Understanding the impact of losing trophic diversity has global significance for managing ecosystems as well as important theoretical implications for community and ecosystem ecology. In several tropical forest ecosystems, habitat fragmentation has resulted in declines and local extinctions of mammalian and avian terrestrial insectivores. To assess the ability of a tropical rainforest community in Ivory Coast to resist perturbation from such loss of trophic diversity, I traced feedbacks in above and below ground communities and measured changes in nutrient levels and herbivory rates in response to an experimental exclosure of avian and mammalian terrestrial insectivores. I present evidence that loss of this functional group may result in increased tree seedling herbivory and altered nutrient regimes through changes in the abundance and guild structure of invertebrates. Exclusion of top predators of the forest floor resulted in increased seedling herbivory rates and macro-invertebrate (>5 mm) densities with strongest effects on herbivorous taxa, spiders and earthworms. Densities of microbivores including Collembola, Acarina and Sciaridae showed the opposite trend as did levels of inorganic phosphorus in the soil. Results were evaluated using path analysis which supported the presence of a top down trophic cascade in the detrital web which ultimately affected turnover of phosphorus, a limiting nutrient in tropical soils. Results illustrate the potential importance of vertebrate predators in both above and belowground food webs despite the biotic diversity and structural heterogeneity of the rainforest floor. [source] Effects of ecdysteroids on Chlorella vulgarisPHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM, Issue 3 2004Andrzej Bajguz The effects of three ecdysteroids, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), 2-deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone (2d20E) and 20-hydroxyecdysone 22-acetate (20E22Ac), on growth and the levels of cellular components in Chlorella vulgaris Beijerinck (Trebouxiophyceae) are reported and compared with data previously reported for ecdysone (E; Bajguz A and Koronka A, Plant Physiol Biochem 39: 707,715, 2001). All three 20-hydroxyecdysteroids stimulate growth of C. vulgaris cells over a wide concentration range (10,16 to 10,7 M). Optimal stimulation is observed at 10,9 M with each ecdysteroid. High concentrations (>10,6 M) are cytotoxic. The potency ranking of the ecdysteroids is 20E > 20E22Ac > 2d20E > E. Levels per cell of DNA, RNA, protein, sugars, organic and inorganic phosphorus, chlorophylls a and b and phaeophytins a and b are all stimulated by ecdysteroid treatment when compared with the untreated control cells. Possible modes of action of ecdysteroids on C. vulgaris cells are discussed. [source] Phosphorus requirement of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L) based on growth and mineralizationAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 3 2010L C Nwanna Abstract The effect of diets supplemented with varied levels of inorganic phosphorus (P) (NaH2PO4) on the growth, body composition, nutrient digestibility and mineralization in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L) was evaluated to determine the optimum P requirements. The six diets used were DPO, as the basal diet with a total P content of 1.30 g kg,1, and DP1, DP2, DP3, DP4 and DP5, which contained 4.10, 6.70, 11.6, 14.9 and 23.4 g P kg,1 respectively. Weight gain, SGR, apparent digestibility coefficient of organic matter and P, whole body ash, P, Ca and Mg increased significantly with increasing dietary P levels while dry matter (DM), fat and Zn content decreased. Feed conversion ratio was the poorest (P<0.05) in fish fed DPO, suggesting P deficiency. The apparent digestibility coefficient of P was 18% in the DPO-fed group, which increased from 69% in DP1 to 92% in DP5 after P supplementation, revealing lower digestibility of the native P than that in NaH2PO4. Broken-line analyses based on weight gain, P content of fish bones and whole body against total dietary and digestible P (data in brackets) contents showed the optimum P requirement for the growth of common carp to be 6.87 (5.55) g kg,1 DM, and the requirement for optimum mineralization in bones and whole body to be 9.10 (7.62) and 14.7 (13.2) g kg,1. [source] Phosphorus requirement of Catla (Catla catla Hamilton) fingerlings based on growth, whole-body phosphorus concentration and non-faecal phosphorus excretionAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009Krishna Sukumaran Abstract A 120-day feeding trial was conducted to determine the dietary requirement of phosphorus for Indian major carp, catla (Catla catla) fingerlings. Four hundred and eighty fingerlings (mean body weight: 4.23±0.87 g) were randomly distributed among eight treatment groups with three replicates each. Eight isonitrogenous and isocaloric semi-purified diets (crude protein: 35% and crude lipid: 8.5%) were formulated with graded levels of phosphorus using KH2PO4 (T1: control, 0.1%; T2: 0.3%; T3: 0.5%; T4: 0.7%; T5: 0.9%; T6: 1.1%; T7: 1.3%; T8: 1.5%) and fed to the respective groups. Twenty fish were stocked in 150 L plastic tanks and fed to apparent satiation twice a day. Specific growth rate (SGR) significantly (P<0.05) increased with increasing dietary phosphorus concentration from 0.73% to 1.27%, after which there was a slight decline in growth at 1.1% available phosphorus (aP) and remained constant thereafter. The quadratic broken-line model based on growth was Y=317.5,581(0.64,x) (0.64,x); R2=0.73. Moisture and crude protein contents of whole body were similar among all the treatments. However, the ether extract in T1 group was significantly (P<0.05) higher than all the other treatments. The whole-body phosphorus content increased significantly (P<0.05) with an increase in phosphorus in the diets. The one-slope broken-line model based on whole-body phosphorus concentration was Y=4.07,1.63 (0.71,x); R2=0.48. The one-slope broken-line model for non-faecal phosphorus excretion as inorganic phosphorus (Pi) for 24 h revealed a trend of Y=12.67+73.96 (x,0.6); R2=0.81. Minimum aP requirements based on weight gain (%), whole-body phosphorus content and phosphorus excretion were 0.64%, 0.71% and 0.6%, respectively. Hence, the dietary aP requirement of catla fingerlings ranges from 0.6% to 0.71%. [source] Factors associated with low vitamin D status of Australian alpacasAUSTRALIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 12 2008GJ Judson Objective To investigate factors associated with low vitamin D status of alpacas at pasture in southern Australia. Design A 2-year survey of alpacas from two farms in South Australia and three in Victoria. Blood samples were collected from 20 to 30 alpacas on each farm on five occasions each year. Breed, gender, age and fleece colour of animals were recorded. Method Blood samples were assayed for plasma 2.5-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-OH D3) and plasma inorganic phosphorus (Pi). Data sets from 802 animal samples were analysed by multiple regression to determine variables associated with low vitamin D status of alpacas. The relationship between plasma 25-OH D3 and plasma Pi was also investigated. Results Vitamin D status was significantly affected by month of sampling, with low values in late winter and high values in summer. Plasma vitamin D concentrations increased with age, were higher in alpacas with light fleeces than in those with dark fleeces and were also higher in the Suri than in the Huacaya breed. Plasma Pi concentrations were generally lower in alpacas with plasma 25-OH D3 values < 25 nmol/L. Conclusions Young alpacas with dark fleeces are most at risk from vitamin D insufficiency in late winter in southern Australia. The present study indicates that plasma Pi values are not a reliable indicator of vitamin D status of alpacas as assessed by plasma 25-OH D3 concentrations. [source] |