Gast Rebecca J.

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Gast
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Rebecca J.
ORCID
0000-0003-3875-3975

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  • Preprint
    Molecular phylogeny of the parasitic dinoflagellate Syltodinium listii (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae) and generic transfer of Syltodinium undulans comb. nov. (=Gyrodinium undulans)
    (Elsevier, 2019-09-17) Gómez, Fernando ; Artigas, Luis Felipe ; Gast, Rebecca J.
    The parasitic dinoflagellate Syltodinium listii was investigated from the open waters of the English Channel and the NW Mediterranean Sea. Syltodinium listii has been unreported since its original description in the North Sea. Cells of S. listii were able to immediately infect copepod eggs of different species, and even nauplii, and after each infection to form up to 32 cells embedded in a mucous envelope. Infection of the same host by more than one dinoflagellate was frequent; although overall, the progeny were reduced in number. Molecular phylogeny based on the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene revealed that S. listii clusters with a group of environmental sequences from the cold North Atlantic region as a sister group of Gymnodinium aureolum. The large subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU rRNA) gene sequences of S. listii from the English Channel and cf. Gyrodinium undulans from the Mediterranean Sea were identical. Thus, we propose Syltodinium undulans comb. nov. for Gyrodinium undulans. The first internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and complete SSU rRNA gene sequences of Dissodinium pseudolunula are provided. The parasitic species of Chytriodinium, Dissodinium and Syltodinium cluster together within the family Chytriodiniaceae, including the free-living species Gymnodinium aureolum, G. corollarium and G. plasticum.
  • Preprint
    Lethal marine snow : pathogen of bivalve mollusc concealed in marine aggregates
    ( 2005-06-14) Lyons, M. Maille ; Ward, J. Evan ; Smolowitz, Roxanna M. ; Uhlinger, Kevin R. ; Gast, Rebecca J.
    We evaluated marine aggregates as environmental reservoirs for a thraustochytrid pathogen, Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX), of the northern quahog or hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria. Positive results from in situ hybridization and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis confirm the presence of QPX in marine aggregates collected from coastal embayments in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where QPX outbreaks have occurred. In laboratory experiments, aggregates were observed and recorded by entering a quahog’s pallial cavity, thereby delivering embedded particles from the water column to its benthic bivalve host. The occurrence of pathogen-laden aggregates in coastal areas experiencing repeated disease outbreaks suggests a means for the spread and survival of pathogens between epidemics and provides a specific target for environmental monitoring of those pathogens.
  • Preprint
    Dinoflagellates Amyloodinium and Ichthyodinium (Dinophyceae), parasites of marine fishes in the South Atlantic Ocean
    ( 2018-10) Gómez, Fernando ; Gast, Rebecca J.
    The morphology and molecular phylogeny of the parasitic dinoflagellates Ichthyodinium chabelardi and Amyloodinium ocellatum was investigated off Brazil (South Atlantic Ocean). This is the first record of Ichthyodinium and the first molecular data of both parasites from the southern hemisphere. Ichthyodinium chabelardi infected the yolk of eggs of feral populations of Argentine anchovy (Engraulis anchoita; Engraulidae) and Brazilian sardinella (Sardinella brasiliensis; Clupeidae) in different seasons. The SSU rRNA and ITS gene sequences were identical and confirmed Ichthyodinium as a host generalist. The new sequences clustered with the type species I. chabelardi from the North Atlantic and environmental sequences from the Pacific Ocean. A second species from the western Pacific remains undescribed. Amyloodinium ocellatum was isolated from the gills of a cultured cobia fish (Rachycentron canadum) after causing mortality. The SSU rRNA gene sequence of the Brazilian isolate was almost identical to those from the northern hemisphere. This suggests a single species with a widespread distribution, although it is uncertain whether the species has a natural pantropical distribution or is the result of artificial distribution due to the humaninduced fish transport.
  • Preprint
    Bacterivory by phototrophic picoplankton and nanoplankton in Arctic waters
    ( 2011-11) Sanders, Robert W. ; Gast, Rebecca J.
    Mixotrophy, the combination of phototrophy and heterotrophy within the same individual, is widespread in oceanic systems. Yet, neither the presence nor ecological impact of mixotrophs has been identified in an Arctic marine environment. We quantified nano- and picoplankton during early autumn in the Beaufort Sea and Canada Basin and determined relative rates of bacterivory by heterotrophs and mixotrophs. Results confirmed previous reports of low microbial biomass for Arctic communities in autumn. The impact of bacterivory was relatively low, ranging from 0.6 x 103 to 42.8 x 103 bacteria mL-1 day-1, but it was often dominated by pico- or nano-mixotrophs. From 1-7% of the photosynthetic picoeukaryotes were bacterivorous, while mixotrophic nanoplankton abundance comprised 1-22% of the heterotrophic and 2-32% of the phototrophic nanoplankton abundance, respectively. The estimated daily grazing impact was usually < 5% of the bacterial standing stock, but impacts as high as 25% occurred. Analysis of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis band patterns indicated that communities from different depths at the same site were appreciably different, and that there was a shift in community diversity at the midpoint of the cruise. Sequence information from DGGE bands reflected microbes related to ones from other Arctic studies, particularly from the Beaufort Sea.
  • Preprint
    The extraordinary longevity of kleptoplasts derived from the Ross Sea haptophyte Phaeocystis antarctica within dinoflagellate host cells relates to the diminished role of the oxygen-evolving Photosystem II and to supplementary light harvesting by mycosporine-like amino acid/s
    ( 2016-12) Stamatakis, Kostas ; Vayenos, Dimitris ; Kotakis, Christos ; Gast, Rebecca J. ; Papageorgiou, George C.
    The haptophyte Phaeocystis antarctica and the novel Ross Sea dinoflagellate that hosts kleptoplasts derived from P. antarctica (RSD; R.J. Gast et al., 2006, J. Phycol. 42 233–242) were compared for photosynthetic light harvesting and for oxygen evolution activity. Both chloroplasts and kleptoplasts emit chlorophyll a (Chl a) fluorescence peaking at 683 nm (F683) at 277 K and at 689 (F689) at 77 K. Second derivative analysis of the F689 band at 77 K revealed two individual contributions centered at 683 nm (Fi-683) and at 689 (Fi-689). Using the p-nitrothiophenol (p-NTP) treatment of Kobayashi et al. (Biochim. Biophys. Acta 423 (1976) 80-90) to differentiate between Photosystem (PS) II and I fluorescence emissions, we could identify PS II as the origin of Fi-683 and PS I as the origin of Fi-689. Both emissions could be excited not only by Chl a-selective light (436 nm) but also by mycosporine-like aminoacids (MAAs)-selective light (345 nm). This suggests that a fraction of MAAs must be proximal to Chls a and, therefore, located within the plastids. On the basis of second derivative fluorescence spectra at 77K, of p-NTP resolved fluorescence spectra, as well as of PSII-driven oxygen evolution activities, PS II appears substantially less active (~ 1/5) in dinoflagellate kleptoplasts than in P. antarctica chloroplasts. We suggest that a diminished role of PS II, a known source of reactive oxygen species, and a diminished dependence on nucleus-encoded light-harvesting proteins, due to supplementary light-harvesting by MAAs, may account for the extraordinary longevity of RSD kleptoplasts.
  • Preprint
    Defining DNA-based operational taxonomic units for microbial-eukaryote ecology
    ( 2009-06-19) Caron, David A. ; Countway, Peter D. ; Savai, Pratik ; Gast, Rebecca J. ; Schnetzer, Astrid ; Moorthi, Stefanie D. ; Dennett, Mark R. ; Moran, Dawn M. ; Jones, Adriane C.
    DNA sequence information has been increasingly used in ecological research on microbial eukaryotes. Sequence-based approaches have included studies of the total diversity of selected ecosystems, the autecology of ecologically relevant species, and the identification and enumeration of species of interest to human health. It is still uncommon, however, to delineate protistan species based on their genetic signatures. The reluctance to assign species-level designations based on DNA sequences is partly a consequence of the limited amount of sequence information presently available for many free-living microbial eukaryotes, and partly the problematic nature and debate surrounding the microbial species concept. Despite the difficulties inherent in assigning species names to DNA sequences, there is a growing need to attach meaning to the burgeoning amount of sequence information entering the literature, and a growing desire to apply this information in ecological studies. We describe a computer-based tool that assigns DNA sequences from environmental databases to operational taxonomic units at approximate species-level distinctions. The approach provides a practical method for ecological studies of microbial eukaryotes (primarily protists) by enabling semiautomated analysis of large numbers of samples spanning great taxonomic breadth. Derivation of the algorithm was based on an analysis of complete small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S) gene sequences and partial gene sequences obtained from GenBank for morphologically described protistan species. The program was tested using environmental 18S data sets from two oceanic ecosystems. A total of 388 operational taxonomic units were observed among 2,207 sequences obtained from samples collected in the western North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific.
  • Preprint
    Impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the microbial landscape of the New Orleans area
    ( 2007-03-20) Sinigalliano, Christopher D. ; Gidley, M. L. ; Shibata, T. ; Whitman, D. ; Dixon, T. H. ; Laws, Edward A. ; Hou, A. ; Bachoon, D. ; Brand, Larry E. ; Amaral-Zettler, Linda A. ; Gast, Rebecca J. ; Steward, Grieg F. ; Nigro, Olivia D. ; Fujioka, Roger S. ; Betancourt, W. Q. ; Vithanage, G. ; Mathews, J. ; Fleming, Lora E. ; Solo-Gabriele, Helena M.
    Floodwaters in New Orleans from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were observed to contain high levels of fecal indicator bacteria and microbial pathogens, generating concern about long-term impacts of these floodwaters on the sediment and water quality of the New Orleans area and Lake Pontchartrain. We show here that fecal indicator microbe concentrations in offshore waters from Lake Pontchartrain returned to prehurricane concentrations within 2 months of the flooding induced by these hurricanes. Vibrio and Legionella species within the lake were more abundant in samples collected shortly after the floodwaters had receded compared with samples taken within the subsequent 3 months; no evidence of a long-term hurricane-induced algal bloom was observed. Giardia and Cryptosporidium were detected in canal waters. Elevated levels of fecal indicator bacteria observed in sediment could not be solely attributed to impacts from floodwaters, as both flooded and nonflooded areas exhibited elevated levels of fecal indicator bacteria. Evidence from measurements of Bifidobacterium and bacterial diversity analysis suggest that the fecal indicator bacteria observed in the sediment were from human fecal sources. Epidemiologic studies are highly recommended to evaluate the human health effects of the sediments deposited by the floodwaters.
  • Preprint
    Molecular phylogeny and synonymy of Balechina gracilis comb. nov. (=Gymnodinium gracile), a widespread polymorphic unarmored dinoflagellate (Dinophyceae)
    (Wiley, 2021-01-25) Gómez, Fernando ; Artigas, Luis Felipe ; Gast, Rebecca J.
    Gymnodinium gracile, described from the coasts of Denmark in 1881, is one of the first described unarmored dinoflagellates. Individuals which morphologically fit with the original description were isolated from the English Channel (North‐East Atlantic). The SSU rRNA gene sequences were identical to the sequences identified as Balechina pachydermata and Gymnodinium amphora from the Mediterranean Sea and Brazil. We propose the transfer of Gymnodinium gracile into the genus Balechina as B. gracilis comb. nov. These sequences constitute an independent lineage, clustering with numerous environmental sequences from polar to tropical waters. The widespread distribution, the high plasticity in size, shape and coloration and the difficulties in discerning the fine longitudinal striae have contributed to the description of numerous synonyms: Amphidinium vasculum, Balechina pachydermata (=Gymnodinium pachydermatum), Gymnodinium achromaticum, G. abbreviatum, G. amphora, G. dogielii, G. lohmannii (=G. roseum sensu Lohmann 1908), G. situla and Gyrodinium cuneatum (=G. gracile sensu Pouchet 1885).