Cell-free filtrates of axenic or bacterized cultures of the dominant blue-green algae from a freshwater lake inhibited the growth of diatoms isolated from the same lake. Lake waters, collected during blue-green algal blooms, also inhibited diatom growth. In situ observations over a 5-year period indicate that diatom bloom populations vary inversely with the levels of the preceding blue-green al...

The marine alga Valonia macrophysa contains in its cell sap K and Na in the proportion of 5.72 to 1. In a form regarded as closely related, Valonia ventricosa, growing in similar environment, the ratio of K to Na is as 0.0278 to 1. The former contains no Mg but in the latter it is present. There are other differences in the composition of the sap. These differences bring about a remarkable cont...

The anti-inflammatory drug predinisolone (1) was reduced to 20β-hydroxyprednisolone (2) by the marine endophytic fungus Penicilium lapidosum isolated from an alga. The structural elucidation of 2 was achieved by 1D- and 2D-NMR, MS, IR data. Although, 2 is a known compound previously obtained through microbial transformation, the data provided failed to prove the C20 stereochemistry. To solve th...

Chemical epigenetic manipulation was applied to a deep marine-derived fungus, Aspergillus sp. SCSIOW3, resulting in significant changes of the secondary metabolites. One new diphenylether-O-glycoside (diorcinol 3-O-α-D-ribofuranoside), along with seven known compounds, were isolated from the culture treated with a combination of histone deacetylase inhibitor (suberohydroxamic acid) and DNA meth...

INTRODUCTION Fucus vesiculosus is a marine alga rich in iodine, which is being used in alternative medicine as a laxative, diuretic, and as a complement for weight loss diets. CASE REPORT We report the case of a 60-year old male patient, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and under treatment with lithium concomitantly with a herbal preparation, including Fucus vesiculosus, as a laxative. He deve...

In contexts such as suspension feeding in marine ecologies there is an interplay between brownian motion of nonmotile particles and their advection by flows from swimming microorganisms. As a laboratory realization, we study passive tracers in suspensions of eukaryotic swimmers, the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. While the cells behave ballistically over short intervals, the tracers behave dif...

A combination of on-line HPLC-NMR and off-line chemical investigations has resulted in the identification of the previously reported polyhalogenated monoterpene plocamenone, together with the new structural analogue isoplocamenone from the crude extract of the marine alga Plocamium angustum. On-flow and stop-flow HPLC-NMR analyses (including the acquisition of WET 2D NMR spectra) rapidly assist...

In addition to 13 known compounds, four new bisabolane sesquiterpenes, okamurenes A-D (1-4), a new chamigrane derivative, okamurene E (5), and a new C₁₂-acetogenin, okamuragenin (6), were isolated from the marine red alga Laurencia okamurai. The structures of these compounds were determined through detailed spectroscopic analyses. Of these, okamurenes A and B (1 and 2) are the first examples of...

Recent advances in circadian biology have brought insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in the generation of circadian rhythmicity. However, little is known about the relationship between these molecular oscillators and the organism's temporal adaptation to complex daily environmental changes. We have studied the effects of nutrients on the circadian system of a marine unicellular alg...

Amperometric detection of nitric oxide with ISO-NOPMC NO microsensors (WPI) is systemically studied in the six media including seawater. The linear range of the microsensor for NO was from 10 to 10 mol/l and the detection limit was 4.2×10 mol/L(S/N=2). With this method, we provide preliminary evidence that NO production could be a general attribute of marine alga (Haeterosigma akashiwo). Experi...