A study was undertaken to determine the food safety of the fermented Māori delicacy, Toroi. Ten batches of Toroi were prepared by a commonly used traditional method that consisted of boiling the vegetable component, either watercress or puha, and combining it with chopped mussel flesh. The mixture was cooled and then stored in a refrigerator for up to eight months to allow natural fermentation to take place. All ingredients were sourced from retail outlets. The Toroi was examined at intervals over eight months for a range of pathogens (seven in all) that have been related to incidents of food poisoning in ready-to-eat foods in New Zealand. The survival of a faecal contamination indicator, the laboratory grown strain Escherichia coli NZRM 916, was mapped over eight months. Two strategies to prevent the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in Toroi were also investigated. Only one of the seven pathogens sought was recovered from any sample. This pathogen was Bacillus cereus, a spore-former known to be associated with vegetables. All batches contained B. cereus on the day of preparation but after two weeks refrigerated storage there was no further recovery from any sample. There was a very low incidence of natural E. coli in the Toroi, consistent with levels permitted in mussels sold in retail outlets. The laboratory grown strain, E. coli declined substantially over two months and was not recovered from any samples at eight months. A laboratory grown strain of Listeria monocytogenes, (L70) was added to Toroi and grew well with an increase in concentration of about seven-fold, over 19 days storage in a refrigerator. A bacteriocin producing lactic acid bacterium, Lactobacillus sake Lb706, was added in combined culture with L. monocytogenes to Toroi. It was found that at least 5 x108 L. sake cells were required as an inoculum to ensure elimination of L. monocytogenes from the Toroi. When a purified bacteriocin; nisin, was added, a concentration of 10 mg g-1 in the Toroi was required to eliminate L. monocytogenes. The inhibition study results suggest that unacceptably high inocula or purified bacteriocin would be required to prevent the growth of L. monocytogenes in Toroi. The results of this suggest that Toroi be prepared from mussels either purchased from a retail outlet or harvested from sites known to be free from contamination. Toroi should be safe to eat if prepared carefully, chilled promptly and thoroughly and allowed to ferment for at least two weeks. In addition, care should be taken to maintain Toroi at refrigerated temperatures until it is eaten.

Thesis submitted to the Division of Science and Engineering. Bibliography: leaves 154-174.

Graduation date: 2006 / This study investigated whether a device commonly used to measure settlement of mussel larvae for ecological studies, the Tuffy™, functions uniformly whether placed in a bed of filamentous algae or on bare rock. During the summers of 2004 and 2005, the number of mussel larvae settling on Tuffys in patches of the filamentous algae Endocladia muricata and Neorhodomela larix, known to be natural substrata for settlement of mussels, was shown to be the same as on Tuffys on adjacent patches of bare rock. The data provide no evidence that adjacent filamentous algae affects settlement to Tuffys and support the utility of this technique for measuring the intensity of larval settlement.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (February 17, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (50-54)

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2004. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Dec. 7, 2005). Vita. In abstract the "E" in HE is subscript. Includes bibliographical references.

Seagrass meadows are highly productive, ecologically and economically valuable ecosystems. However, increased human activities along the coastal areas leading to processes such as eutrophication have resulted in the rapid loss and deterioration of seagrass ecosystems worldwide. This thesis focuses on the responses of seagrasses to increases in nutrients, subsequent increases in ephemeral algae, and changes in the physical-chemical properties of seawater induced by interaction with other marine biota. Both in situ and laboratory experiments conducted on the tropical seagrasses Cymodocea serrulata and Thalassia hemprichii revealed that increased concentrations of water column nutrients negatively affected seagrass photosynthesis by stimulating the growth of the epiphytic biomass on the seagrass leaves. Interaction between seagrasses and other marine organisms induced different responses in seagrass photosynthesis. Ulva intestinalis negatively affected the photosynthetic performance of the temperate seagrass Zostera marina both by reducing the light and by increasing the pH of the surrounding water. On the other hand, the coexistence of mussels Pinna muricata and seagrass Thalassia hemprichii enhanced the photosynthetic activity of the seagrass, but no effect on the mussels' calcification was recorded. This study demonstrates that seagrass productivity is affected by a multitude of indirect effects induced by nutrient over-enrichment, which act singly or in concert with each other. Understanding the responsive mechanisms involved is imperative to safeguard the ecosystem by providing knowledge and proposing measures to halt nutrient loading and to predict the future performance of seagrasses in response to increasing natural and human perturbations. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Papers 1, 3 and 4: Submitted. Paper 2: Manuscript. / Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation (Sida/SAREC) marine bilateral programme

Interactions between multiple anthropogenic stressors can have unexpected synergistic or antagonistic effects, making it difficult to predict their combined effect using single stressor studies. The interaction between invasive consumers and nutrient enrichment is particularly important as both of these stressors frequently co-occur and their respective bottom-up and top-down effects have the potential to interact across multiple trophic levels. We conducted a mesocosm experiment that crossed an increasing nutrient addition gradient against an increasing zebra mussel invasion gradient. Native zooplankton communities were added to the mesocosms, and after three months we examined how the single stressor effects on available resources and the zooplankton community were altered by their multiple stressor interaction. Added nutrients had no effect on primary producer abundance, but increased the abundance and dominance of the top consumer, which likely increased predation pressure on the producers and so prevented their response to increased nutrients. Zebra mussels reduced total phytoplankton abundance by ~75%, rotifer abundance by ~80%, and shifted communities towards dominance of cladocerans and adult/juvenile copepods. When combined, the top-down control exerted by the mussels interacted antagonistically to prevent any bottom-up influence of nutrient enrichment on the zooplankton community. These results provide insight into the potential outcomes of nutrient and invasive consumer stressor interactions, and illustrate the need for researchers to consider single stressor problems in a multiple stressor context. / Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2014-01-31 15:20:15.387

The study of marine antifreeze proteins has provided new findings. The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) was known to have antifreeze activity; however, the antifreeze protein or other molecule responsible has never been characterized. Activity was evident in mussels from each of the Maritime provinces, Canada. The antifreeze molecule was shown to alter ice crystal morphology. It functioned over a wide range of pH values and it showed protease resistance. Nonetheless, its purification was not achieved. A winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) ?-helical antifreeze protein, wflAFP6, has been shown to form amyloid-like fibrils during freezing. Separation of different aspects of the freezing process demonstrated that equilibrium freezing with an ice template is necessary for conversion of the wflAFP6 to the amyloid-like conformation. Amyloid-like conformation was determined by dye binding and electron microscopy. The effects of wflAFP6 concentration and solution properties were determined in order to better understand the process of conversion.

Freshwater mussels are the most imperiled group of freshwater invertebrates globally. Recent research suggests a better understanding of mussel feeding ecology may facilitate and improve conservation efforts. The use of stable isotopes is becoming an increasingly common method to study aquatic food webs. Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are two of the most frequently employed elements in food web studies. Differences in natural abundance of 13C/12C can indicate which food sources are the basal sources of carbon incorporated into a consumer’s tissue, while the ratio of 15N /14N provides a method of assessing trophic position within a food web. Attached macroalgae, including the genus Cladophora, may be the dominant primary producers in running water systems. Cladophora, however, has not yet been indicated as a prominent assimilated food source for freshwater mussels. The overall purpose of this study was to assess if the diet of two common Green River mussel species, Amblema plicata (Say) and Elliptio dilatata (Rafinesque) were influenced by the seasonal change in availability of Cladophora during a summer-autumn rapid growth period. Two specific questions were asked: 1) Are the assimilated diets different between control and treatment areas, and 2) are the assimilated diets influenced by differing Cladophora levels across the study period? A mesocosm approach was employed in order to manipulate Cladophora levels within a treatment area. Seventy-two mussels, 36 each species, were sampled across four months,twice between control (= reach-scale, heavy Cladophora cover) and treatment (= localscale removal of Cladophora) areas. The freeware program, IsoSource, a concentration weighted linear mixing model, was used to determine the potential contribution of potential food sources to the diet of both mussel species. IsoSource revealed that Cladophora was the primary assimilated food source for both species across the study period. Although assimilated diets were not different between control and treatment areas, diets were, however, influenced by Cladophora availability across time. The results of this study indicate that, during bloom conditions, Cladophora is the primary carbon source for both A. plicata and E. dilatata and may form the base of food webs in the upper Green River.

The current explanation for the absence, or low abundance, of filter-feeding invertebrates from some rocky shores is that because of local variation in nearshore oceanographic conditions, larvae do not arrive in sufficient numbers to establish populations. One putative consequence of this is that macroalgae are able to establish dominance in areas where filter-feeders (especially mussels) do not recruit well. While macroalgae have been transplanted to mussel-dominated shores with varying success, the survival, growth and reproduction of transplanted mussels has not been tested in areas dominated by macroalgae. To determine specifically what tips the balance between shores dominated by filter-feeding invertebrates and those dominated by macroalgae, I monitored the recruitment of intertidal mussels at four sites on the Kaikoura coast: two with mussels present and two algal-dominated. No significant differences in mussel recruitment rates were found between habitats and recruitment intensity at all sites was found to be very low. Recruitment limitation is not the reason for the absence of mussels from algal dominated shores but some form of limitation does occur to reduce the number of arriving mussels. Predation effects were examined by transplanting juvenile mussels into caged, uncaged and control treatments. No significant differences in predation rates between habitats were found and transplanted mussels in open cages at all sites were removed within 3 days. Mobile fish predators appeared to be the most likely cause of this intense predation. Growth of transplanted mussels into algal and mussel habitats was found to be significantly different. Mussels grew faster in mussel dominated habitats and after 6 months in algal dominated habitats, all mussels had died. The outcome of these experiments indicates that there is a close relationship between recruitment, survival and growth which tips the balance and allows the existence of mussel beds along the Kaikoura coastline.