• Login
    About WHOAS
    View Item 
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Academic Programs
    • WHOI Theses
    • View Item
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Academic Programs
    • WHOI Theses
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of WHOASCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywordsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywords

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    The effect of protozoan grazers on the cycling of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in marine systems

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Kujawinski_thesis.pdf (5.473Mb)
    Date
    2000-02
    Author
    Kujawinski, Elizabeth B.  Concept link
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4104
    Location
    Vineyard Sound, MA
    DOI
    10.1575/1912/4104
    Keyword
     Polychlorinated biphenyls; Protozoan populations 
    Abstract
    Processes affecting organic carbon distribution and composition can control the speciation of organic contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and ultimately determine their residence time in a particular environment. In marine systems, the microbial loop influences organic carbon dynamics by recycling a significant fraction of dissolved and particulate organic matter. The goal of this thesis was to understand how these recycling processes affect chlorobiphenyl (CB) cycling in marine systems by monitoring CB dynamics among organic carbon pools represented by dissolved organic matter, bacterial prey and phagotrophic protozoan grazers. Initially, I studied the extent to which a protozoan grazer (Uronema sp. - 10μm ciliate) equilibrated with aqueous PCBs within 2-3 hours. Initial calculations predicted rapid equilibration via passive diffusion. Experimentally, no difference in equilibration time was noted between grazing and non-grazing protozoa, indicating that diffusion was the primary uptake pathway for these organisms. The results were extended to determine the transition size of an organism where the rates of diffusive and ingested uptake are equivalent (100-500μm). Disassociation rate constants were estimated for complexes of CB congeners and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). CB-DOC complexes enhanced the diffusive uptake rate constant for Tenax resin and, by inference, protozoan grazers. In the second phase of this work, concentrations of surfactants, organic carbon and cells were monitored over time in protozoan cultures. The effects of bacterial growth substrate and protozoan species were examined. Surfactants increased during protozoan exponential growth while total DOC concentrations decreased. Production of surface-active material in ciliate cultures was significantly higher than in flagellate cultures, and all protozoan cultures were higher than the bacterial control. Common headspace vessels were then used to compare and contrast the affinity of protozoan and bacterial culture filtrates (<0.2μm) for PCBs relative to a seawater control. Affinities were normalized to bulk DOC and surfactant concentrations to determine underlying relationships among these parameters. Values of equilibrium partition coefficients (Koc) ranged from 1046 in Vineyard Sound seawater to 105.4 and 105.5 in protist cultures, indicating that "grazer-enhanced" DOM was a better sorbent for PCBs than DOM in bacterial controls and Vineyard Sound seawater.
    Description
    Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 2000
    Collections
    • WHOI Theses
    • Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry (MC&G)
    Suggested Citation
    Thesis: Kujawinski, Elizabeth B., "The effect of protozoan grazers on the cycling of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in marine systems", 2000-02, DOI:10.1575/1912/4104, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4104
     

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      A New invertebrate member of the p53 gene family is developmentally expressed and responds to polychlorinated biphenyls 

      Jessen-Eller, Kathryn; Kreiling, Jill A.; Begley, Gail S.; Steele, Marjorie E.; Walker, Charles W.; Stephens, Raymond E.; Reinisch, Carol L. (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2002-03-07)
      The cell-cycle checkpoint protein p53 both directs terminal differentiation and protects embryos from DNA damage. To study invertebrate p53 during early development, we identified three differentially expressed p53 family ...
    • Thumbnail

      Hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and DDE in mussels and oysters from the U.S. Coast - 1965-1978 - the mussel watch 

      Farrington, John W.; Risebrough, Robert W.; Parker, Patrick L.; Davis, Alan C.; De Lappe, Brock; Winters, Kenneth; Boatwright, Dan; Frew, Nelson M. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1982-10)
      Mytilus edulis, Mytilus californianus, Crassostrea virginica and Ostrea equestris were sampled at 90 to 100 stations around the United States coastline during each of three years- 1976, 1977, 1978. Data for concentrations ...
    • Thumbnail

      Hepatic metabolite profiling of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-resistant and sensitive populations of Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) 

      Glazer, Lilah; Kido Soule, Melissa C.; Longnecker, Krista; Kujawinski, Elizabeth B.; Aluru, Neelakanteswar (2018-10-15)
      Atlantic killifish inhabiting polluted sites along the east coast of the U.S. have evolved resistance to toxic effects of contaminants. One such contaminated site is the Acushnet River estuary, near New Bedford Harbor ...
    All Items in WHOAS are protected by original copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. WHOAS also supports the use of the Creative Commons licenses for original content.
    A service of the MBLWHOI Library | About WHOAS
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Privacy Policy
    Core Trust Logo