A laboratory study of the increasing competitiveness of Karenia mikimotoi under rising CO2 scenario

Abstract

Ocean acidification (OA) driven by elevated carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels is expected to disturb marine ecological processes, including the formation and control of harmful algal blooms (HABs). In this study, the effects of rising CO₂ on the allelopathic effects of macroalgae Ulva pertusa to a toxic dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi were investigated. It was found that high level of CO₂ (1000 ppmv) promoted the competitive growth of K. mikimotoi compared to the group of present ambient CO₂ level (420ppmv), with the number of algal cell increased from 32.2 × 10⁴ cells/mL to 36.75 × 10⁴ cells/mL after 96 h mono-culture. Additionally, rising CO₂ level weakened allelopathic effects of U. pertusa on K. mikimotoi, as demonstrated by the decreased inhibition rate (50.6 % under the original condition VS 34.3 % under the acidified condition after 96 h co-culture) and the decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, antioxidant enzymes activity (superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione reductase (GR) and catalase (CAT) and non-enzymatic antioxidants (glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (ascorbate, vitamin C). Indicators for cell apoptosis of K. mikimotoi including decreased caspase-3 and -9 protease activity were observed when the co-cultured systems were under rising CO₂ exposure. Furthermore, high CO₂ level disturbed fatty acid synthesis in U. pertusa and significantly decreased the contents of fatty acids with allelopathy, resulting in the allelopathy weakening of U. pertusa. Collectively, rising CO₂ level promoted the growth of K. mikimotoi and weakened allelopathic effects of U. pertusa on K. mikimotoi, indicating the increased difficulties in controlling K. mikimotoi using macroalgae in the future.

Keywords: Allelopathy; Karenia mikimotoi; Metabolomics; Ocean acidification; Ulva pertusa.