Mixotrophy, A Major Mode of Nutrition for Harmful Algal Species in Eutrophic Waters Citation

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Harmful Algal Blooms
Topic: Mixotrophy, A Major Mode of Nutrition for Harmful Algal Species in Eutrophic Waters Citation
Burkholder, JoAnn M., Patricia M. Glibert, and Hayley M. Skelton. "Mixotrophy, a major mode
of nutrition for harmful algal species in eutrophic waters." Harmful algae 8.1 (2008): 77-93.
Introduction
Algae are microscopic forms of aquatic life that play a significant role in the regulation of carbon dioxide levels in a water body. Algal blooms refer to the rapid accumulation of algae in a water body. The water body assumes the color of the photosynthetic pigment of the algae involved. Algal blooms occur as a result of increased nutrients in the water body resulting from fertilizers washed from agricultural areas, or household cleaning water that contain phosphorous. In cases where algae blooms and interferes with the life and the ecology of the water body, the scenario is referred to an as harmful algae bloom. Phagotrophic challenges have been critical in investigating the ecology of the algae blooms (Stoecker et al. 183). When these large populations of algae die, they decompose using dissolved oxygen. This leads to low oxygen levels in the water and causes plant and aquatic organisms’ death. Some harmful algal blooms also produce toxins which destroy aquatic life. Harmful algal blooms also cause debilitating illnesses in humans.
Though most harmful algal species have been historically considered phototrophic, a combination of heterotrophy and phototrophy has been suggested to be the mechanism that algal species growing in nutrient deprived habitats use. Heterotrophy is a mechanism of nutrition where an organism produces energy using organic carbon. On the other hand, phototrophy is the mechanism by which cells of an organism react to light stimulus. In a 2005 study, the researchers sought to find out an alternative means of nutrition for algal species growing in habitats that have undergone eutrophication. Eutrophication is the process by which a water body is enriched with nutrients from various sources. In the study, a combination of heterotrophism and phototropism i...