Biota marine

After considering the Redfield-Ketchum-Richards ratio (see Chapter 10) for C N P consider the analog for sulfur in land and marine biota. What key biochemical species are the major determinants of the C S relationship in biota ... 

Palytoxin isolated from zoanthids Palythoa spp. is known to be extremely lethal (0.5 fig/kgy mouse, i.p.) and to have the most complicated natural product structure (Figure 4) ever elucidated (13,14). The toxin was later revealed to be a potent tumor promoter (15). Yet, health risks due to the toxin have remained unclear, as the zoathids are the most unlikely organisms to be regarded as foodstuff. Recently, however, data are being compiled to indicate the wide distribution of this toxin among marine biota. 

These are of primary signihcance in the biosynthesis of organohalogen compounds (Neilson 2003), which are distributed among mammals, marine biota, bacteria, and fungi. 

El-Nady, F.E. and Atta, M.M., Toxicity and bioaccumulation of heavy metals to some marine biota from the Egyptian coastal wasters, Journal of Environment Science and Health, A-31 (7), 1529-1545, 1996. 

Considering the vast spectrum of marine biota, it is perhaps surprising that even twenty years after the initial report the phylum Porifera continues to be the... 

Although use of radio and stable isotope labels involving the trio of covalently-bonded nitrogenous functions in 3 and in 78, provided evidence that isocyano is the precursor of the isothiocyano and formamido groups [30, 81], it remains to be shown that a biosynthetic equivalent of the in vitro chemically-proven fusion process between isocyano and free sulfur (e.g., cf. Introduction) exists in the cells of sponges. In marine biota, various ionic forms of sulfur in a number of oxidation states, as well as organo-polysulfides are known. However, any association with the isonitrile group and a sulfated species has yet to be established. 

What is the role of marine biota and benthic-pelagic coupling in the carbon cycling and primary production ... 

Reish, D.J. 1977. Effects of chromium on the, life history of Capitella capitata (Annelida Polychaeta). Pages 199-207 in F.J. Vernberg, A. Calabrese, F.P. Thurberg, and W.B. Vemberg (eds.). Physiological Responses of Marine Biota to Pollutants. Academic Press, NY. 

Eisler, R. 1979. Copper accumulations in coastal and marine biota. Pages 383-449 in J.O. Nriagu (ed.). Copper in the Environment. Part 1 Ecological Cycling. John Wiley, NY. 

Govindarajan, S. and V.N.R. Rao. 1992. Accumulation of trace metals in the marine biota and their biological transport. Acta Botan. Indica 20 1-5. 

Porte, C., D. Barcelo, and J. Albaiges. 1988. Quantitation of total versus selected polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in marine biota samples. Jour. Chromatogr. 442 386-393. 

Toxaphene is extremely toxic to freshwater and marine biota. In laboratory tests of 96-h duration, 50% mortality was recorded for the most sensitive species of freshwater and marine teleosts, marine crustaceans, and freshwater insects at nominal water concentrations of less than 10 pg/L of toxaphene, and, in several cases, less than 1 pg/L (Table 27.2). Bioassays of longer duration, based on exposure of aquatic organisms for the entire or most of the life cycle, produced significant adverse effects on growth, survival, and reproduction at toxaphene concentrations between 0.025 and 1.0 pg/L (Table 27.3). Toxaphene was most toxic to freshwater fishes in soft water at elevated temperatures (Saleh 1991). Based on its high toxicity and extensive use, it is not surprising that toxaphene was considered a major cause of nationwide fish kills in 1977 (USEPA 1980b). 

Harvell CD, Mitchell CE, Ward JR, Altizer S, Dobson AP, Ostfeld RS, Samuel MD (2002) Ecology - climate warming and disease risks for terrestrial and marine biota. Science 296 2158-2162 Hauck P, Thilmony R, He SY (2003) A Pseudomonas syringae type III effector suppresses cell wall-based extracellular defense in susceptible Arabidopsis plants. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100 8577-8582... 

Many aquatic organisms exhibit an ability to concentrate a variety of trace elements and this ability has been identified as a function of the tendency of the elements to be complexed by ligands (159). The alkaline earth metals are poorly com-plexed in relation to the transition metals, copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc and manganese. The actinides should be regarded as members of an intermediate group. It has been suggested by Martin (160) that at least five mechanisms may regulate the uptake of metals by marine biota. These are... 

Aliphatic hydrocarbons, a diverse suite of compounds, are an important lipid fraction which is either natural (i. e., from photosynthesis by marine biota inhabiting the surface waters or by terrestrial vascular plants) or anthropogenic (i. e., of petroleum origin from land runoff, and/or industrial inputs). Aliphatic hydrocarbons have been studied and characterized from various environmental multimedia [1,53-56,99-109]. 

Because of their role as an elemental sink, the formation and weathering of evaporites has the potential to affect the salinity of seawater. This can in turn alter climate, because the heat capacity of seawater is a function of its salt content. Changes in the salt content of seawater also have the potential to affect survival of marine biota, particularly the calcifiers. 

Exposure to oil pollution can cause sublethal effects on marine biota, such as reduced growth rate and reproductive failure. The type and severity of the effect depends on (1) the concentration of petroleum, (2) length of exposure, (3) persistence and bioavailability of specific hydrocarbons, and (4) the ability of organisms to accumulate and metabolize... 

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