Do oceangoing microplastics affect phytoplankton signaling in North Carolina waters?
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Phytoplankton, single-celled photosynthetic aquatic cells, areestimated to produce over 70% of the world's breathable oxygen, areinvolved in the microbial loop, and serve as the base of the oceanicfood web. Many species of phytoplankton produce potent neurotoxinsthat affect both marine and terrestrial organisms, bioaccumulate inseafood, and cause hundreds of millions of dollars of damage annually.In addition to these toxins, phytoplankton produce compounds thataffect competitor physiology and behavior in a competition mechanismcalled allelopathy. Little is known of the identities of theseallelochemicals, but their involvement in phytoplankton bloomdynamics has been hypothesized. Harmful algal blooms occur incoastal and riverine waterways and are subject to influxes of terrestrialcontamination, including agricultural runoff, industrial/chemical waste,and importantly plastic waste. The impact of oceangoing plastics ontoxin or allelochemical production in phytoplankton has yet to beaddressed. The toxic dinoflagellate, Karlodinium veneficum is native tothe waters of North Carolina and is known to produce a suite of toxinscalled karlotoxins. The effects of oceangoing plastics on allelopathy andkarlotoxin production by K. veneficum were investigated in this study.
