The Great Lakes Center was represented by six posters at the 13th Annual Faculty/Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum. Here are the abstracts:
Presenters: Alexander Y. Karatayev, Vadim Karatayev, Lyubov E. Burlakova
Freshwater molluscs are among the most endangered groups of animals, yet at the same time represent the most diverse group of invaders in North American freshwaters. The local extinctions and introductions of invaders have dramatic effects on the diversity and community structure of molluscs. In the early 20th century, Lake Oneida hosted an abundant and diverse molluscan community of 41 species (excluding unidentified Sphaeriidae). However, due to habitat loss, introduction of invasive species, and other consequences of human activity, the diversity of molluscs has dramatically declined. By the mid-1990s, 18 species of molluscs found in the lake in 1918 had disappeared, indicating a 44% decline in the diversity. At the same time, at least 11 species of molluscs have been introduced, including the zebra mussels which had a devastating effect on the native unionids. During our detailed study of Lake Oneida molluscs in 2012, we found 34 live species, including 10 which were previously listed as lost, suggesting at least partial recovery in the molluscan community. Exotic snail Cipangopaludina chinensis was found for the first time in Lake Oneida. In addition, we found three species of gastropods that are native for the region, but have never been previously reported from the lake, including the rare Gyraulus crista. All unionid bivalves were extirpated from the Lake Oneida, most likely due to the impacts of dreissenids.
Presenters: Jagat J. Mukherjee, Subodh Kumar
DNA damage by polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is known to trigger cellular protective response of cell growth inhibition. In this regard our previous observation showed G1-S cell cycle arrest (inhibition of DNA synthesis) in human fibroblast associated with accumulation of p53 protein, a known cell growth inhibitory transcription factor, in response to treatment with BPDE (ultimate carcinogenic metabolite of the PAH benzo[a]pyrene). Here we report that BPDE treatment triggers variable extent of cell growth inhibition in different cell lines, and the extent of cell growth inhibition in different cell lines do not correspond to the extent of increased p53 accumulation as opposed to our expectation. We also observed that BPDE treatment of cells significantly down-regulates expression of p34cdc2, a known cell cycle activating protein. Although the role of cdc2 down-regulation in inhibition of cell cycle progression is well known, to the best of our knowledge cdc2 down-regulation in response to cellular insult by PAHs has not been reported. We observed correspondence between extent of cell growth inhibition and the extent of cdc2 down-regulation by BPDE in different cell lines as opposed to p53 accumulation as mentioned above. Interestingly, BPDE-mediated cdc2 down-regulation is observed to be p53 dependent although extent of p53 accumulation does not correspond to the extent of cdc2 down-regulation. However, the extent of cdc2 down-regulation corresponds to the extent of accumulation of cell cycle inhibitor protein p21 (transactivation product of p53) in different cell lines. These findings may have an implication that cell growth inhibition in response to DNA damaging PAHs may involve down-regulation of cdc2 protein elicited by p53 activation (transactivation ability), and the extent of p53 accumulation is not the determining factor in this regard.
Presenters: Lyubov E. Burlakova, Alexander Y. Karatayev, Brianne Tulumello
The continued invasion of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) in North America and Europe has threatened the survival of native unionid mussels. We used data from multiple waterbodies in Europe and North America to test if the impact of Dreissena on unionids depends on densities of dreissenids in a waterbody, time since invasion, and Dreissena species. We found an overall trend for increase of attached dreissenid weight with unionid host’s size during the first 10 years after Dreissena invasion, however, this adverse impact reduces beyond 10 years after the recorded invasion. We also found that while impacts of zebra mussels on unionids are well described, there is little comparable data for quagga mussels. Considering that the overall dreissenid density in Lake Erie has declined over the last decade, zebra mussels have been almost completely replaced by quagga mussels, and the fact that quagga mussels have weaker attachment strength, we hypothesized that the adverse impact of dreissenids on unionids is now less than the early stages of the invasion. We conducted extensive surveys of unionids in lakes Erie and St. Clair in 2011, and recorded the number, weight, and species of dreissenids attached to unionids shells. Confirming our hypothesis, most of the unionids found were free of dreissenids, and infested unionids had fewer attached dreissenid mussels than in the early 1990s. Despite the quagga mussels’ lake-wide dominance, zebra mussels were more often found on unionids, and their number and weight per host unionid were higher than those of quagga mussels.
Presenters: Alicia Pérez-Fuentetaja, Beryl Ankrah
In this study we compared the feeding ecology of the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in Lake Erie and in a tributary stream to the Niagara River. Gobies in the lake had access to dreissenid mussels, which they started incorporating into their diet at 40 mm total length. Gobies in the stream fed on a variety of macroinvertebrates, and they also experienced a diet shift after 40 mm total length, when they started feeding on caddisfly larvae. Gobies in the lake on a dreissenid diet attained larger sizes than the stream gobies during development. Stable isotopes analyses of 13C indicated that the carbon sources in the food webs of gobies in the lake and in the stream were different. Phytoplankton was the major carbon source for gobies from the lake, while carbon from detritus fueled the food web of gobies from the stream. Gobies in the lake also had a higher trophic position (3.91) that gobies in the stream (2.88), indicating access to other foods higher in the food web, possibly fish eggs. In addition, gobies from the lake had different 15N signatures at different sizes, while size did not affect the isotopic signatures of gobies in the stream. These differences are the result of a switch in diet in gobies from the lake, from soft benthos to molluskivory during development. Gobies in the stream, on the other hand, eat an increasing amount of caddisfly larvae as they get larger, which are not isotopically different from other preferred benthic foods, such as chironomids.
Presenters: Kathleen L. Hastings, Mark D. Clapsadl
Since 2008, the Great Lakes Center has monitored two sites in eastern Lake Erie for the Lower Trophic Level Assessment, a multiagency effort begun in 1999 by the Forage Task Group of the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission. This long-term project is aimed at building a database of biotic and abiotic information from sampling stations throughout Lake Erie to describe annual trophic conditions. From May through October, we collect physical limnology data, water samples, and plankton samples biweekly, and benthos three times a year.
Presenters: Mark D. Clapsadl, Kathleen L. Hastings
The Buffalo State Great Lakes Center participated for the second year in the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS), installing a GLOS buoy in Eastern Lake Erie. The buoy is a TIDAS 900 manufactured by S2 Yachts. It is 16 feet in length, 4 feet in diameter and weighs a little over 650lbs. We have deployed the buoy 5 miles NNW of Dunkirk in 30 meters of water. The buoy collects meteorological information including solar radiation, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, and relative humidity. It also collects wave height, direction and period information as well as measuring water temperature from the surface to 20m in depth along with dissolved oxygen and conductivity at 20m. Data collected are logged and transmitted via a cellular link back to Buffalo State Great Lakes Center. A centralized GLOS network that would make data available to the public is expected to be up and running in the fall of 2012. Although this project is not hypothesis driven, i.e. the project is not designed to answer a specific questions, the monitoring information collected from this system can be used for climate modeling, lake current and energy budget modeling, as well as being useful for the study of nutrient dynamics and fisheries. In addition the real time data collection can be useful in detecting short term disturbances such as wind driven cold water intrusion into shallow parts of the lake. An example of such an event and the subsequent fish kill that occurred in the summer of 2012 is given here.
Please contact us if you would like to see a copy of the posters or if you have questions.
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