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Studies the reproductive structure of Caloglossa ogasawaraensis in nature and culture. Description on the reproductive structures of C. ogasawaraensis; Reproductive characteristics of cystocarpic and tetrasporic plants; Composition of a carpogonial branch.

SUMMARY Trade-off relationships are considered key to understanding the mechanisms supporting the coexistence of multiple species within kelp beds. Thus, information on trade-offs is expected to contribute to conservation of kelp bed diversity. To test the existence of a trade-off between productivity and thallus toughness, thallus traits and relationships between the traits were examined for seven species of Laminariales including 24 populations. For each population, photosynthetic capacity per unit biomass (as A mass) and nitrogen (i.e., photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency, PNUE), nitrogen content (as N mass), thallus mass per unit thallus area (as TMA) and force required to penetrate the thallus (as F p, a common index of leaf toughness in land plants by punch test) were determined. A mass increased with increasing N mass. Blades with high N mass showed high A mass. These blades may invest a large proportion of nitrogen to the photosynthetic parts, and consequently exhibit high metabolic rates. Moreover, blades with high N mass tended to be associated with low TMA, and N mass decreased with increasing TMA. A significant negative correlation was observed between TMA and A mass because of the linkage of high A mass with high N mass and high N mass associated with low TMA, while a significant positive correlation was observed between TMA and F p. The two correlations indicate the existence of a trade-off between productivity and thallus toughness in Laminariales. PNUE showed a significant negative correlation with TMA, which also showed a significant positive correlation with F p as the index of thallus toughness, and therefore a trade-off relationship between productivity and thallus toughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physiological properties of the temperate hermatypic coral Acroporapruinosa Brook with symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) on the southerncoast of the Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan,were compared between summer and winter. Photosynthesis and respirationrates of the coral with symbiotic zooxanthellae were measured insummer and winter under controlled temperatures and irradianceswith a differential gas-volumeter (Productmeter). Net photosyntheticrate under all irradiances was higher in winter than in summer at thelower range of temperature (12−20°C), while lower thanin summer at the higher range of temperature (20−30°C).The optimum temperature for net photosynthesis was apt to fall withthe decrease of irradiance both in summer and winter, whereas itwas higher in summer than in winter under each irradiance. At 25/50/100 µmolphotons m-2 s-1, it was nearly the sea­watertemperature in each season. Dark respiration rate was higher inwinter than in summer, especially in the range from 20−30°C.In both seasons the optimum temperature for gross photosynthesiswas 28°C under 400 µmol photons m-2 s-1 andlowered with decreasing irradiance up to 22°C under 25 µmolphotons m-2 s-1 in summer, while 20°Cunder the same irradiance in winter. The optimum temperature forproduction/respiration (P/R) ratio was higherin summer than in winter under each irradiance. Results indicatedthat metabolism of coral and zooxanthellae is adapted to ambienttemperature condition under nearly natural irradiance in each season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: "Monitoring Sites 1000" – Japan's long‐term monitoring survey was established in 2003, based on the Japanese Government policy for the conservation of biodiversity. Ecological surveys have been conducted on various types of ecosystems at approximately 1000 sites in Japan for 15 years now and are planned to be carried out for 100 years. Since 2008, seaweed communities had been monitored at six sites, featuring the kelp (e.g. Saccharina and Ecklonia; Laminariales) and Sargassum (Fucales) communities in the subarctic and temperate regions of Japan. Annual surveys were carried out during the season when these canopy‐forming seaweeds are most abundant. A non‐destructive quadrat sampling method, with permanent quadrats placed along transects perpendicular to the shoreline, was used to determine species composition, coverage, and vertical distribution of seaweeds at these sites; while destructive sampling was done every 5 years to determine biomass. The occurrence of canopy‐forming species Saccharina japonica (var. japonica) and Ecklonia cava have appeared to be stable at the Muroran (southwestern part of Hokkaido Island) and Shimoda (Pacific coast of middle Honshu Island) sites, respectively; whereas the coverage of Ecklonia radicosa (= Eckloniopsis radicosa) at the Satsuma‐Nagashima site in southern part of Kyushu Island was highly variable until its sudden disappearance from the habitat in 2016. Thalli of E. radicosa lost most of their blades through browsing by herbivorous fish, and thus, this may be one of the causes of the decline. A shift in the community structure related to environmental changes had also been observed at some other sites. Pre‐ and post‐disaster data revealed the impact of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disasters, including a shift in the vertical distribution of Ecklonia bicyclis (= Eisenia bicyclis) to shallower depths at the Shizugawa site in the Pacific coast of northern Honshu Island, due to seafloor subsidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Trade‐offs are considered key to understanding mechanisms supporting the coexistence of multiple plant species. Thus, understanding the mechanisms underlying trade‐offs is expected to contribute to conservation and management of macroalgal beds composed of diverse macroalgae of rocky shore ecosystems. To test the occurrence of trade‐offs between productivity and thallus toughness as well as pair‐wise thallus trait relationships that are expected to indirectly relate to any trade‐offs, traits and relationships for 13 species of macroalgae from the central area along the Japan Sea coast of Honshu, Japan were examined. In each species we examined for photosynthetic capacity per unit biomass (as Amass) and nitrogen (i.e., photosynthetic nitrogen‐use efficiency, PNUE), nitrogen content (as Nmass), thallus mass per unit thallus area (as TMA) and force required to penetrate the thallus (as Fp, a common index of leaf toughness in land plants by punch test). A significant negative correlation indicating a trade‐off between productivity and thallus toughness was found between Amass or PNUE and Fp. Pair‐wise relationships that were expected to indirectly relate to the trade‐off were as follows. Amass was positively correlated with Nmass. Thalli with high Nmass extensively utilizing nitrogen in the photosynthetic parts, and consequently exhibiting elevated metabolic rates. Moreover, thalli with high Nmass tended to be associated with low TMA, and Nmass decreased with increasing TMA. A significant negative correlation was observed between TMA and Amass or PNUE because of the linkage of high Amass or PNUE with high Nmass and high Nmass associated with low TMA, while a significant positive correlation was observed between TMA and Fp. The two correlations indicate a physiological and structural trade‐off, which underlies the interdependency of thallus traits. Results of multivariate analyses also indicated that the thallus traits interdependently vary across a single axis based on the trade‐off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lobophora rosacea C.W. Vieira, Payri et De Clerck is reported from the South China Sea for the first time. Our specimens are very similar to L. rosacea recently described from New Caledonia, not only in morphology but also in rbcL and cox3 gene sequences. The fan-shaped thallus grows erectly, attaching to the substrate by a basal holdfast. The thallus is composed of a single layer of large medullary cells and three to four layers of cortical cells on both sides of the medulla. Mature sporophytes are detected, with sporangium sori scattered on both surfaces of the thallus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sea slug Plakobranchus ocellatus (Sacoglossa, Gastropoda) retains photosynthetically active chloroplasts from ingested algae (functional kleptoplasts) in the epithelial cells of its digestive gland for up to 10 months. While its feeding behavior has not been observed in natural habitats, two hypotheses have been proposed: 1) adult P. ocellatus uses kleptoplasts to obtain photosynthates and nutritionally behaves as a photoautotroph without replenishing the kleptoplasts; or 2) it behaves as a mixotroph (photoautotroph and herbivorous consumer) and replenishes kleptoplasts continually or periodically. To address the question of which hypothesis is more likely, we examined the source algae for kleptoplasts and temporal changes in kleptoplast composition and nutritional contribution. By characterizing the temporal diversity of P. ocellatus kleptoplasts using rbcL sequences, we found that P. ocellatus harvests kleptoplasts from at least 8 different siphonous green algal species, that kleptoplasts from more than one species are present in each individual sea slug, and that the kleptoplast composition differs temporally. These results suggest that wild P. ocellatus often feed on multiple species of siphonous algae from which they continually obtain fresh chloroplasts. By estimating the trophic position of wild and starved P. ocellatus using the stable nitrogen isotopic composition of amino acids, we showed that despite the abundance of kleptoplasts, their photosynthates do not contribute greatly to the nutrition of wild P. ocellatus, but that kleptoplast photosynthates form a significant source of nutrition for starved sea slugs. The herbivorous nature of wild P. ocellatus is consistent with insights from molecular analyses indicating that kleptoplasts are frequently replenished from ingested algae, leading to the conclusion that natural populations of P. ocellatus do not rely on photosynthesis but mainly on the digestion of ingested algae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examination of Grammatophora marina from rough and clonal cultures showed that cell size changes were more flexible than is generally reported for diatoms. Allogamous sexual auxosporulation took place through copulation between small male cells and larger female cells, but only in mixed rough culture and never in clonal cultures. Auxospores were also formed without copulation in clonal cultures ('uniparental auxosporulation') and these, like sexual auxospores, developed through formation of a perizonium, which consisted of a series of transverse bands. All of these bands, including the primary band, were open. Circular scales were present in the auxospore wall before initiation of perizonium formation and irregular, elongate structures lined the suture of the transverse perizonium. Perizonium and scales resembled those of another araphid pennate diatom, Gephyria media. Initial cells were formed within the perizonium and consisted of an initial epivalve with a simplified structure, an initial hypovalve (formed beneath the perizonium suture) and a third, normally structured valve formed beneath the epivalve; the epivalve was then sloughed off. Initial cells of similar configuration but often aberrant morphology could also be formed through expansion from vegetative cells, without involvement of a perizonium. Vegetative cells were also capable of limited enlargement through simple expansion without formation of an initial cell, and abrupt size reduction. Cell size ranges in populations from different regions suggest that G. marina may contain pseudocryptic species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grazing effects of ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis Temminck et Schegel, on the benthic algal assemblages were investigated in the Chikuma River, Japan. Comparison of the algal composition on boulders with and without intensively grazed patches indicated that fish grazing decreased the abundance of diatoms and prostrate filamentous cyanobacteria and caused upright filamentous cyanobacteria to predominate. Differential consumption by ayu was estimated by comparing the relative abundance of algae in the stomach contents of ayu and that in the algal assemblages within the grazed patches. The results showed that ayu consumed the prostrate filamentous cyanobacteria proportionally to their abundance, whereas they ingested diatoms and the upright filamentous cyanobacteria in a larger and lower quantity, respectively, than that expected from their abundance. Differential consumption would involve the change in the algal composition toward the predominance of upright filamentous cyanobacteria under fish grazing conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the distribution of green light-harvesting pigments, siphonaxanthin and siphonein, and their precursors, lutein and loroxanthin, were investigated in about 40 species of marine benthic green algae collected from various habitats. The pigment composition of the eusiphonean algae, as well as the life style of the caulerpedean algae on sand, may be in the most ancestral condition among green algae since the Chlorophyta is concluded to have appeared about one thousand million years ago, a time when strong ultraviolet rays at a lethal level penetrated 5 to 10 meter into seawater.