Spectral attenuance and photosynthetic performance over the range 300 to 700 nm were examined in red-tide populations of Prorocentrum micans and Gonyaulax polyedra collected off La Jolla, California, USA, in May 1969 and M a y June 1985; and in spring 1969, November 198t and AprilMay 1982, respectively. In the near ultraviolet (UV), high attenuance and diminished photosynthetic effectiveness we...

Dinoflagellates are unique among eukaryotes in their unusual 'dinokaryons' - nuclei that lack bulk histones. A new study finds that acquisition of a novel dinoflagellate chromatin protein was an early step in the transition to a nucleus lacking detectable nucleosomes.

The study investigated the stomach contents of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) from the southern part of Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf from April 2016 through March 2017. The food and feeding behavior of R. kanagurta with a fork length of 17.8 to 22.5 cm was assessed from the analysis of gut contents. The frequency of occurrence and numeric methods were used for stomach content anal...

DNA barcoding is a diagnostic technique for species identification using a short, standardized DNA. An effective DNA barcoding marker would be very helpful for unraveling the poorly understood species diversity of dinoflagellates in the natural environment. In this study, the potential utility for DNA barcoding of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 (cox1) and cytochrome b (cob) was assessed. ...

Dinoflagellates constitute a large proportion of the planktonic biomass from marine to freshwater environments. Some species produce a preservable organic-walled resting cyst (dinocyst) during the sexual phase of their life cycle that is an important link between the organisms, the environment in which their parent motile theca grew, and the sedimentary record. Despite their abundance and wides...

Dinoflagellate bioluminescence serves as a model system for examining mechanosensing by suspended motile unicellular organisms. The response latency, i.e. the delay time between the mechanical stimulus and luminescent response, provides information about the mechanotransduction and signaling process, and must be accurately known for dinoflagellate bioluminescence to be used as a flow visualizat...

Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) is a gastrointestinal disorder caused by the consumption of seafood contaminated with okadaic acid (OA) and dinophysistoxins (DTXs). OA and DTXs are potent inhibitors of protein phosphatases 2A, 1B, and 2B, which may promote cancer in the human digestive system. Their expression in dinoflagellates is strongly affected by nutritional and environmental factors...