During the last two decades, large-scale high biomass algal blooms of the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum donghaiense Lu have occurred frequently in the East China Sea (ECS). The role of increasing nutrient concentrations in driving those blooms is well-established, but the source population that initiates them is poorly understood. We hypothesized that the front of Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) may se...

Phaeocystis globosa blooms can have negative effects on higher trophic levels in the marine ecosystem and consequently influence human activities. Strain KA22, identified as the bacterium Hahella, was isolated from coastal surface water and used to control P. globosa growth. A methanol extract from the bacterial cells showed strong algicidal activity. After purification, the compound showed a s...

Hydroxylated- and methoxylated- polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs) are more toxic than PBDEs and occur widely in the marine environment, and yet their origins remain controversial. In this study, four species of microalgae (Isochrysis galbana, Prorocentrum minimum, Skeletonema grethae and Thalassiosira pseudonana) were exposed to BDE-47, which is synthetic and is the predom...

Ion channels are tightly involved in various aspects of cell physiology, including cell signaling, proliferation, motility, endo- and exo-cytosis. They may be involved in toxin production and release by marine dinoflagellates, as well as harmful algal bloom proliferation. So far, the patch-clamp technique, which is the most powerful method to study the activity of ion channels, has not been app...

Small-scale turbulence and parasite infection are 2 important factors that govern the dynamics and fate of phytoplankton populations. We experimentally investigated the influence of turbulent mixing on the infectivity of the parasite Parvilucifera sinerae to dinoflagellates. Natural phytoplankton communities were collected during 3 stages of a bloom event in Arenys de Mar Harbour (NW Mediterran...

Dinoflagellates in marine benthic habitats living epiphytically on macroalgae are an important but highly understudied group of protists. Many produce toxins that can have severe economic impacts on marine-based economies, and improved monitoring tools are required to enhance the management of toxin-related hazards. We analysed the distribution and diversity of epibenthic dinoflagellates inhabi...

In recent years, the role of lectins in feed selection bivalve has become hot research topic. Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum is a species marine with important economic value. A new C-type lectin (Rpcl) from was obtained and its potential feeding studied. Rpcl cDNA 929 bp length had 720 open reading frame. encoded 235 amino acids, comprising carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) as well an...