Salinity tolerance and desalination properties of a strain from eastern Hungary.

Nowadays the increasing amount of saline wastewaters has given rise to various biological desalination processes, among which the application possibilities of microalgae represents a priority research area. Next to "real" aquatic species (members of phytoplankton or phytobenthon), species from ephemeral aquatic habitats or aeroterrestrial algae also could be good candidates of research studying salt tolerance or desalination ability, since salinity stress is often referred as "physiological drought" and species from ephemeral habitats can be characterized by high drought tolerance. In this study, the salinity tolerance, salt and nutrient removal ability of a strain from eastern Hungary were investigated.

Uncertainties of cell number estimation in cyanobacterial colonies and the potential use of sphere packing.

Cyanobacteria are notorious bloom formers causing various water quality concerns, such as toxin production, extreme diurnal variation of oxygen, pH, etc., therefore, their monitoring is essential to protect the ecological status of aquatic systems. Cyanobacterial cell counts and biovolumes are currently being used in water management and water quality alert systems.

Horseradish Essential Oil as a Promising Anti-Algal Product for Prevention of Phytoplankton Proliferation and Biofouling.

Increased proliferation of algae is a current problem in natural and artificial water bodies. Controlling nutrients is the most sustainable treatment of increased algal proliferation, however in certain cases, it is not sufficiently available, or it does not provide results fast enough. Chemicals derived from natural sources, which could be effective in low concentrations and are biodegradable, may have an advantage over conventional chemical treatments.

Trait convergence and trait divergence in lake phytoplankton reflect community assembly rules.

Environmental filtering and limiting similarity are those locally acting processes that influence community structure. These mechanisms acting on the traits of species result in trait convergence or divergence within the communities. The role of these processes might change along environmental gradients, and it has been conceptualised in the stress-dominance hypothesis, which predicts that the relative importance of environmental filtering increases and competition decreases with increasing environmental stress.

Environmental filtering and limiting similarity as main forces driving diatom community structure in Mediterranean and continental temporary and perennial streams.

Climatic extreme events such as droughts (unpredictable), dry periods (predictable) or even flush floods, threaten freshwater ecosystems worldwide. The filtering mechanisms of these events and their strength on communities, however, can be different among regions. While time-for-adaptation theory defines whether or not water scarcity can be considered as disturbance, the stress-dominance theory predicts an increase in importance of environmental filtering and a decrease in the role of biotic interactions in communities with increasing environmental stress.

Groups of small lakes maintain larger microalgal diversity than large ones.

The question of whether one large, continuous area or many smaller habitats maintain more species is one of the most relevant questions in conservation ecology, and it is referred to as the SLOSS (Single Large Or Several Small) dilemma in the literature. This question has not yet been raised in the case of microscopic organisms, therefore we investigated whether or not the SLOSS dilemma could apply to phytoplankton and benthic diatom metacommunities. Benthic diatom and phytoplankton diversity in pools and ponds of different sizes (ranging between 10-10 m) was studied.

Effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on cyanobacteria and algae in laboratory strains and in natural algal assemblages.

In recent years measurable concentrations of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been shown in the aquatic environment as a result of increasing human consumption. Effects of five frequently used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (diclofenac, diflunisal, ibuprofen, mefenamic acid and piroxicam in 0.1 mg ml(-1) concentration) in batch cultures of cyanobacteria (Synechococcus elongatus, Microcystis aeruginosa, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii), and eukaryotic algae (Desmodesmus communis, Haematococcus pluvialis, Cryptomonas ovata) were studied.

Effects of Cylindrospermopsin Producing Cyanobacterium and Its Crude Extracts on a Benthic Green Alga-Competition or Allelopathy?

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by filamentous cyanobacteria which could work as an allelopathic substance, although its ecological role in cyanobacterial-algal assemblages is mostly unclear. The competition between the CYN-producing cyanobacterium Chrysosporum (Aphanizomenon) ovalisporum, and the benthic green alga Chlorococcum sp. was investigated in mixed cultures, and the effects of CYN-containing cyanobacterial crude extract on Chlorococcum sp.

Alterations of phytoplankton assemblages treated with chlorinated hydrocarbons: effects of dominant species sensitivity and initial diversity.

Changes in composition of phytoplankton assemblages due to short-chained chlorinated hydrocarbons (tetrachloroethane, tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene) were studied in microcosm experiments with different initial diversities. Diversity decreased further during treatments in the less diverse 2011 summer assemblages, dominated by the euglenid Trachelomonas volvocinopsis (its relative abundance was nearly 70 %). Diversity did not change significantly during treatments in the more diverse 2012 summer assemblages, dominated by cryptomonads (their relative abundance was 40 %).

Zinc tolerance and zinc removal ability of living and dried biomass of Desmodesmus communis.

Effects of zinc on growth, cell morphology, oxidative stress, and zinc removal ability of the common phytoplankton species Desmodesmus communis were investigated at a concentration range of 0.25-160 mg L(-1) zinc. Cell densities and chlorophyll content decreased in treated cultures, changes in coenobia morphology and elevated lipid peroxidation levels appeared above 2.