Publications by authors named "Benjamin J Kramer"

Article Synopsis
  • Warmer temperatures and CO enrichment can increase the intensity of harmful cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater ecosystems, but the combined effects of CO, temperature, and nutrients are still under-researched.
  • Over a two-year study in a eutrophic lake, significant increases in cyanobacterial biomass and nitrogen-fixing (diazotrophic) community activity were observed, particularly in response to nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) enrichment alongside elevated CO levels.
  • The cyanobacterial order Nostocales was notably dominant, with enhanced N fixation rates observed under various nutrient and CO-enriched conditions, suggesting that both CO and nutrient availability are crucial for promoting harmful algal blooms.
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Article Synopsis
  • Rising CO levels in eutrophic ecosystems are linked to increased growth rates of cyanobacteria, particularly harmful species from the genus Dolichospermum, which produce cyanotoxins.
  • Elevated fixed nitrogen (NO) levels can suppress nitrogen fixation but enhance cyanobacterial growth and toxin production when paired with high CO concentrations.
  • The study suggests future ecosystems with excessive nitrogen and CO enrichment may see a shift toward more toxic blooms, highlighting the importance of nitrogen cycling in these conditions.
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While freshwater cyanobacteria are traditionally thought to be limited by the availability of phosphorus (P), fixed nitrogen (N) supply can promote the growth and/or toxin production of some genera. This study characterizes how growth on N (control), nitrate (NO ), ammonium (NH ), and urea as well as P limitation altered the growth, toxin production, N fixation, and gene expression of an anatoxin-a (ATX-A) - producing strain of sp. 54.

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Globally, eutrophication and warming of aquatic ecosystems has increased the frequency and intensity of cyanobacterial blooms and their associated toxins, with the simultaneous detection of multiple cyanotoxins often occurring. Despite the co-occurrence of cyanotoxins such as microcystins and anatoxin-a (ATX) in water bodies, their effects on phytoplankton communities are poorly understood. The individual and combined effects of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and ATX on the cyanobacteria spp.

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Brevetoxin (PbTx) is a neurotoxic secondary metabolite of the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis. We used a novel, fluorescent BODIPY-labeled conjugate of brevetoxin congener PbTx-2 (B-PbTx) to track absorption of the metabolite into a variety of marine microbes. The labeled toxin was taken up and brightly fluoresced in lipid-rich regions of several marine microbes including diatoms and coccolithophores.

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Lake Okeechobee, FL, USA, has been subjected to intensifying cyanobacterial blooms that can spread to the adjacent St. Lucie River and Estuary via natural and anthropogenically-induced flooding events. In July 2016, a large, toxic cyanobacterial bloom occurred in Lake Okeechobee and throughout the St.

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Microcystis and Anabaena (Dolichospermum) are among the most toxic cyanobacterial genera and often succeed each other during harmful algal blooms. The role allelopathy plays in the succession of these genera is not fully understood. The allelopathic interactions of six strains of Microcystis and Anabaena under different nutrient conditions in co-culture and in culture-filtrate experiments were investigated.

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