Algal biofuels are investigated as a promising alternative to petroleum fuel sources to satisfy transportation demand. Despite the high growth rate of algae, predation by rotifers, ciliates, golden algae, and other predators will cause an algae in open ponds to crash. In this study, Chlorella kessleri was used as a model alga and the freshwater rotifer, Brachionus calyciflorus, as a model preda...

A long-standing question in evolutionary biology is how sexual reproduction has persisted in eukaryotic lineages. As cyclical parthenogens, monogonont rotifers are a powerful model for examining this question, yet the molecular nature of sexual reproduction in this lineage is currently understudied. To examine genes involved in meiosis, we generated partial genome assemblies for 2 distantly rel...

The occurrence of Microcystis blooms is a worldwide concern due to the numerous adverse effects on zooplankton. We therefore hypothesized that the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa is harmful to rotifer growth. Population and individual experiments were conducted with the same proportional volumes of Chlorella and Microcystis for given food densities. Life-table parameters, life-history tra...

1. In this study we address how growth rate in consumers may be regulated by nitrogen (N)and phosphorus (P)limitation of ribonucleic acid (RNA), using the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus as the model organism. 2. Growth rate, RNA and weight-specific concentrations of carbon (C), N and P were analyzed in B. calyciflorus fed algae with different C : N, C : P and N : P ratios. 3. Growth rate corre...

Transitions to asexuality have occurred in many animals and plants, yet the biological mechanisms causing such transitions have often remained unclear. Cyclical parthenogens, such as cladocerans, rotifers or aphids often give rise to obligate asexual lineages. In many rotifers, chemical signals that accumulate during population crowding trigger the induction of sexual stages. In this study, I t...

Endocrine disruption compounds (EDC) are known to affect reproduction, development, and growth of exposed organisms. Although in vertebrates, EDCs mainly act through steroid receptors (e.g. androgen estrogen receptors), their absence many invertebrates suggests the involvement another biological pathway endocrine effects. As retinoid signaling is present almost all Metazoa its gastropods (i.e. ...