Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-163).

Routine monitoring of algae in inland waters in southern Africa is a critical element in assessing the efficacy of eutrophication management options. Several authors have indicated that single point samples are not necessarily representative of conditions throughout the water body and some have suggested remote sensing as a means of overcoming this problem. Remote sensing of algae normally involves deriving the empirical relationship between radiance detected at a sensor, and contact sensed chlorophyll concentrations. Quantification of, or compensation for, contributions to the upwelling radiance other than that light reflected by the algae is critical for this approach. In southern Africa these contributions arise primarily from atmospheric effects and from scattering by sediments in the water. A review of the atmospheric correction models suggested that a cosine sun angle correction followed by dark pixel subtraction is the most feasible method to compensate for the former effects. Studies of the changes in upwelling radiance induced by addition of sediment to algal cultures indicated that subtraction of reflectance at ≈665nm from that at ≈700nm, may provide a means of compensating for the scattering by sediments. The disadvantage of this approach is that few sensor systems have narrow spectral bands centred at these wavelengths. Investigations of the nature of the reflectance from 5 algal species indicated that all had similar reflectance spectra, but the blue-green genera had a smaller peak at ≈650nm. Chlorophyll absorption at ≈665nm was evident by lower reflectance at this point, but the alga Microcystis sp. did not conform to the conceptual model of reflectance, in that reflectance at 665nm was higher at increased cell density. Spectra of natural waters confirmed the results obtained in the laboratory. Reflectance at ≈700nm showed the largest changes with increasing chlorophyll concentration and also had the highest correlations to chlorophyll concentrations. However, due to the strong absorption of these wavelengths by water, this reflectance peak only occurred when sufficient cells were found in the upper layers of water. Use of these wavelengths in remote sensing models should therefore be restricted to highly eutrophied waters. Although the reflectance spectra of different algae were similar, the amount of light scattered by each species (measured as turbidity) differed for any given chlorophyll concentration. This appeared to be due to the colonial nature of the cells and means that empirical models will be unique to the species on which they were developed. Comparisons of multispectral photography (MSP) and LANDSAT MSS imagery indicated the MSP data had higher correlations with chlorophyll concentrations than did the MSS data. Chlorophyll simulations from a test set of data using ordinary multiple regression showed that the MSP imagery had mean errors of 7.3M9/I, while that for the MSS imagery was 7.4M9/I. Similar tests using the canonical procedure produced larger mean errors of 9M9/I and 12M9/I for the MSP and MSS data respectively. This was due to the fact that the canonical procedure is not suitable for the spectral band widths of these sensors. In spite of similar simulation accuracies, the MSS imagery produced very patchy synoptic views. This was due to the lower variance (radiometric resolution) in the LANDSAT MSS data. This appears to be the most important criterion for accurate chlorophyll mapping in inland waters. Development of a single multidate algorithm for southern Africa is not yet feasible, and routine monitoring of chlorophyll using these techniques is impractical. However acceptable chlorophyll maps are possible if the model is recalibrated for each occasion and the sensor used has a high radiometric resolution.

A study on the process of bud initiation and development in the filamentous brown alga Sphacelaria furcigera (Kutz) was carried out using techniques of light and electron microscopy, as well as cytochemistry. A localized thickening and subsequent protrusion of the outer cell wall of the axial mother cell characterizes the earliest detectable stage of bud initiation. This protrusion forms through the combined deposition of newly synthesized microfibrils together with the partial lysis/loosening of the existing cell wall. Evidence is presented that of the three enzyme activities localized, peroxidase, adenosine triphosphatase and acid phosphatase activity, only peroxidase activity is related to the lysis/loosening of the cell wall during the early development of the bud initial. Continued incorporation of new cell wall material into the outer cell wall maintains its structural integrity. However, there is a change in the layered appearance of the cell wall microfibrils. The cell wall of the bud initial is characterized by two cell wall layers instead of the four found in the pre-existing cell wall of the axial mother cell. This original cell wall is composed of an outer-most fucan layer, overlying an alginate layer, which in turn overlies another fucan layer and finally terminates in an inner-most alginate layer. In contrast the bud initial's cell wall has only a thin outer fucan layer and a thick inner alginate layer. Concomitant with the formation of the cell wall protrusion, there is a loss of cytoplasmic vacuoles, an increase in cytoplasmic mass and density and an increase in the number of organelles. The endomembrane system (endoplasmic reticulum, dictyosomes and the derivative vesicles) also proliferates. Organelle migration into the bud protrusion keeps pace with bud expansion. The movement of the nucleus, however, lags behind and it migrates towards the bud protrusion only after a "vacuole free" cytoplasm becomes established. As the nucleus approaches a medial position between the base of the axial mother cell and the tip of the bud protrusion, cytoplasmic vacuoles re-appear. They are confined, however, to the basal region of the axial mother cell. After karyokinesis, a cross wall is deposited between the two daughter nuclei resulting in the formation of a bud cell and a sister axial cell. The sister axial cell is highly vacuolated and structurally resembles the adjacent quiescent axial cells. The bud cell is dense and non-vacuolated, a feature characteristic of a mefistematic cell. / Science, Faculty of / Botany, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Twenty-two different unialgal clonal isolates have been obtained at random for experimental purposes over a period of about one year. Also, during this period, at least 12 other species or strains have been isolated into unialgal cultures which had not yet been identified and/or significantly cleared of heterotrophic contaminants.

I have participated in a drug discovery program designed to screen marine algae for inhibitors of cancer-related enzymes, antitumor compounds, antiinflammatory substances, and other agents of potential pharmaceutical utility. Over 1,500 lipid and aqueous extracts of marine plants and animals were surveyed for biomedical potential. Assays designed to screen extracts for new types of marine toxins have served to guide the isolation and identification of biologically active compounds. Extracts of the Oregon marine alga Constantinea simplex were found to contain a mixture of constanolactones, and lactonized cyclopropyl-containing oxylipin metabolites that logically derive from arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids. Spectroscopic analysis and chiroptical measurements of the natural products and various synthetically produced derivatives afforded the structures of seven structurally related compounds. Nakienones A-C and nakitriol, a series of reactive cytotoxic metabolites, were isolated from dead and necrotic branches of stony coral (Acropora sp.) which were completely covered with a gray-black mat of cyanobacteria (Synechocystis sp.). Their structures were determined spectroscopically by interpretation of 2D-NMR experiments, including heteronuclear multiple-bond coherence spectroscopy (HMBC) and 2-D nuclear Overhauser exchange spectroscopy (NOESY), and by comparison with model compounds. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the organic extract of a Curacao Lyngbya majuscula organic extract led to the isolation of an extremely potent brine shrimp toxin with antiproliferative activity. The structure of this new thiazoline ring-containing lipid, curacin A, was deduced from spectroscopic information and comparison of products obtained from chemical degradation of the natural product with the same substances prepared by synthesis. Curacin A is an antimitotic agent that inhibits microtubule assembly and the binding of colchicine to tubulin. In addition to curacin A, a potent new ichthyotoxic depsipeptide (antillatoxin), a new malyngamide derivative, and an unusual molluscicidal compound have been isolated from this alga. / Graduation date: 1995

Graduation date: 1966

Graduation date: 1994

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves : [58]-64).

No description available.