We investigated the effects of human activities on the pelagic food web structure of nearshore marine ecosystems. Their generic structure was established on the basis of literature review and analyzed by qualitative structural network analysis. Two main issues were addressed: (1) the role of species capable of forming harmful algal blooms (HABs) and red tides (Noctiluca spp.), as well as the ro...

In order to discover the intracellular location of luciferase in dinoflagellates, sections from a number of species were treated with a polyclonal anti-luciferase and the bound antibody was visualized at the electron-microscope level by indirect immunogold labelling. In two species of Pyrocystis and in Noctiluca, as in Gonyaulax, antibody became bound to dense vesicles, which correspond in size...

Link or sink: a modelling interpretation of the open Baltic biogeochemistry M. Vichi, P. Ruardij, and J. W. Baretta National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Bologna, Italy Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands Noctiluca, Wassenaar, The Netherlands Received: 30 June 2004 – Accepted: 20 July 2004 – Published: 5 August 2004 Correspondence to: M. Vichi (vichi@...

Noctiluca scintillans, a heterotrophic unarmored unicellular bioluminescent dinoflagellate, occurs widely in the oceans, often as a bloom. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on 18S ribosomal DNA sequences consistently has placed this species on the basal branch of dinoflagellates. Here, we report that the structural organization of its luciferase gene is strikingly different from that of the...

The Southern Bight of the North Sea is characterised by a large influence of river inputs, which results in eutrophication of the area. High concentrations of plankton biomass and suspended matter have been reported for this area, in relation with blooms of different species and resuspension of bottom sediments. In spring the haptophyte Phaeocystis globosa blooms throughout the area reaching up...

Pseudomonas pelagia CL-AP6, isolated from a culture of the Antarctic green alga Pyramimonas gelidicola, is a psychrotolerant bacterium. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of this strain, which may provide insights into the mutualistic interaction between microalgae and bacteria in sea ice, as well as the cold adaptation mechanisms of bacteria.

Bioluminescence of plankton organisms induced by water movements has long been observed and is still under investigations because of its great complexity. In particular, the exact mechanism occurring at the level of the cell has not been yet fully understood. This work is devoted to the study of the bioluminescence of the dinoflagellates plankton species Pyrocystis noctiluca in response to mech...

This paper presents electrophysical potential generation in noctiluca. Dynamic modelling is composed of three electrical zones and two depletion layers (liquid junctions) induced in cytoplasm. Stimulussensitive and voltage-dependent ion channels are settled at the membrane around cytopharynx and tentacle. Equivalent circuits of activity are given by an input forward diode and an output reverse ...