Some observations on the growth and cyst production characteristics of the brine shrimp Artemia sp. (Gujarat strain) in pond culture and its potential for import substitution

Experimental culture of the brine shrimp Artemia sp. (Gujarat strain) and production of cyst is discussed. The qualitative and quantitative aspects of the cyst and its economic potential for import substitution are highlighted.

Eutrophication process recorded in dinoflagellate cyst assemblages — a case of Yokohama Port, Tokyo Bay, Japan

To investigate temporal changes of water quality, a role of dinoflagellate cysts preserved in surface sediments was examined in Yokohama Port in Tokyo Bay, Japan. Two cores were collected, and sedimentation rates and ages of both were dated as approximately 1900 years or slightly older on the basis of 210Pb and 137Cs concentrations. The temporal change in dinoflagellate cyst assemblages in the two cores reflects eutrophication in Yokohama Port in the 1960s. Abrupt increases in the cysts of Gyrodinium instriatum cysts strongly suggests that a red tide was caused by this species around 1985. Dinoflagellate cyst assemblages in surface sediments appear to be good biomarkers of changes in the water quality of enclosed seas.

Descriptions of Protospathidium serpens (Kahl, 1930) and P-fraterculum n. sp (Ciliophora, Haptoria), two species based on different resting cyst morphology

Protospathidium serpens (Kahl, 1930) is frequent in semiterrestrial and terrestrial habitats worldwide. Conventionally, all populations are considered as conspecific because they have very similar overall morphologies and morphometrics. We studied in detail not only the morphology of the vegetative cells but also the resting cysts using live observation, protargol impregnation, and scanning electron microscopy. These revealed a cryptic diversity and biogeographic pattern in details of the dorsal brush and cyst wall morphology. The cyst wall is spiny in the Austrian specimens, while smooth in the South African and Antarctic populations. Accordingly, P. serpens consists of at least two species: P. serpens (with spiny cyst wall) and P. fraterculum n. sp. (with smooth cyst wall); the latter is probably composed of two distinct taxa differing by the absence (South African)/presence (Antarctic) of a monokinetidal bristle tail in brush row 3, the number of dikinetids comprising brush row 1 (seven versus three), and the total number of brush dikinetids (29 versus 17). Protospathidium serpens is neotypitied with the new population from Austria. The significance of resting cyst morphology is discussed with respect to alpha-taxonomy and overall ciliate diversity.

Dinoflagellate cyst-based reconstructions of mid to late Holocene winter sea-surface temperature and productivity from an anoxic fjord in the NE Pacific Ocean

Published contemporary dinoflagellate distributional data from the NE Pacific margin and estuarine environments (n = 136) were re-analyzed using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and partial Canonical Correspondence Analysis (pCCA). These analyses illustrated the dominant controls of winter temperature and productivity on the distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in this region. Dinoflagellate cyst-based predictive models for winter temperature and productivity were developed from the contemporary distributional data using the modern analogue technique and applied to subfossil data from two mid to late Holocene (~5500 calendar years before present–present) cores; TUL99B03 and TUL99B11, collected from Effingham Inlet, a 15 km long anoxic fjord located on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island that directly opens to the Pacific Ocean through Barkley Sound. Sedimentation within these basins largely comprises annually deposited laminated couplets, each made up of a winter deposited terrigenous layer and spring to fall deposited diatomaceous layer. The Effingham Inlet dinoflagellate cyst record provides evidence of a mid-Holocene gradual decline in winter SST, ending with the initiation of neoglacial advances in the region by ~3500 cal BP. A reconstructed Late Holocene increase in winter SST was initiated by a weakening of the California Current, which would have resulted in a warmer central gyre and more El Niño-like conditions.

Primary irsi stromal cyst:A report of 17 cases

Objective: To describe clinical characteristics, management, and complications of primary iris stromal cysts. Design: A retrospective review. Results: Seventeen consecutive patients with primary iris stromal cysts were found. Nine (52%) patients were diagnosed under age 10 years (range, 1 day-7 years), and eight (47%) patients were diagnosed after age 10 years (range, 14-71 years). Overall, the cyst appeared unilaterally as a solitary clear translucent mass dissecting the iris stroma in all cases. The children with a primary iris stromal cyst demonstrated a more aggressive course than teenagers or adults. In children, the cyst obstructed the visual axis in eight cases (88%), requiring treatment such as aspiration, cryotherapy, and resection. In seven children, multiple treatments were necessary. Ultimate control of the cyst was achieved in all cases using techniques of needle aspiration (with or without cryotherapy) in three cases and using resection in five cases. Primary iris stromal cysts in teenagers and adults necessitated intervention in only two cases (25%). Conclusion: Primary iris stromal cysts can occur in children, teenagers, and adults. In children, primary stromal iris cysts appear to have a more aggressive clinical course, often requiring several treatments for globe and vision preservation.

Isolation and characterization of the female sex pheromone of the sugar beet cyst nematode, heterodera schachtii, and an analysis of male precopulatory behaviour /

The sugar beet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii, is a major agricultural pest. The disruption of the mating behaviour of this plant parasite in the field may provide a means of biological control, and a subsequent increase in crop yield. The H. schachtii female sex pheromone, which attracts homospecific males, was collected in an aqueous medium and isolated using high performance liquid chromatography. Characterization of the male-attractive material revealed that it was heat stable and water soluble. The aqueous medium conditioned by female H. schachtii was found to be biologically active and stimulated male behaviour in a concentration dependent manner. The activity of the crude pheromone was specific to males of H. schachtii and did not attract second stage juveniles. Results indicated that vanillic acid, a putative nematode pheromone, is not an active component of the H. schachtii sex pheromone. Male H. schachtii exhibited stylet thrusting, a poorly understood behaviour of the male, upon exposure to the female sex pheromone. This behaviour appeared to be associated with mate-finding and was used as a novel indicator of biological activity in bioassays. Serotonin, thought to be involved in the neural control of copulatory behaviour in nematodes, stimulated stylet thrusting. However, the relationship between stylet thrusting induced by the sex pheromone and stylet thrusting induced by serotonin is not clear. Extracellular electrical activity was recorded fi-om the anterior region of H. schachtii males during stylet thrusting, and appeared to be associated with this behaviour. The isolation of the female sex pheromone of H. schachtii may, ultimately, lead to the structural identification and synthesis of the active substance for use in a novel biological control strategy.