Different aspects of studying a diatom Cylindrotheca closterium (Ehrenberg) Reimann et Lewin 1964 in natural and laboratory conditions

The article summarizes original and literary data on different aspects of studying Cylindrotheca closterium (Ehrenberg) Reimann et Lewin 1964 in two biotopes – phytoplankton and microphytobenthos – of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Sea of Japan for the period from 1976 to 2016. The aim of the work is to present the results of the study mainly of own data on the morphology, systematics and ecology of C. closterium in different seas and under cultivation in the laboratory. Information on the history of the species origin and its nomenclature changes is given. C. closterium belongs to the phylum Bacillariophyta, class Bacillariophyceae, order Bacillariales Hendey 1937, family Bacillariaceae Ehrenb. 1831, genus Cylindrotheca Rabenhorst 1859 emend. Reim. et Lewin 1964. This benthoplanktonic species occurs in the plankton, in littoral and sublittoral zones of the seas. The species is marine and brackish-water; it is a cosmopolite common in different geographical zones of the World Ocean. The results of studying alga by various methods under natural and experimental conditions in light and transmission electron microscopes of C. Zeiss LIBRA-120 are presented. The quantitative data of C. closterium were determined by direct counting of the cells in the Goryaev’ camera (V = 0.9 mm³) in light microscopes BIOLAM L-212, C. Zeiss Axioskop 40 with the program AxioVision Rel. 4.6 at 10×40, 10×100, and Olympus BX41 (Tokyo, Japan) with lenses UPLanF140× and 100×1/30 oil immersion. Cultivation of C. closterium was carried out in the cumulative mode on the nutrient medium F, volume of 1 L under light intensity of 13.7 klx and temperature of +20…+21 °C. Morphology data of this species from different seas were obtained. The average cell sizes of C. closterium are: 25–260 µm length, 1.5–8 µm width; 12–25 fibulae in 10 µm. The results of cultivation in the laboratory conditions showed that the average cell sizes reached 148.17 µm (length) and 8 µm (width) at the temperature of +19…+20 °C and light intensity of 13 klx; length of cells reached 162.12 µm in the exponential phase of growth and 172.07 µm – in the stationary phase. C. closterium has an important practical significance as a source of fucoxanthin, since this alga is intensively cultivated for production of biologically active substances. Our experimental data showed that during laboratory cultivation the fucoxanthin concentration in a diatom biomass can reach 11 mg·g-1 of dry mass. The new data obtained are relevant and important; they can be used in different fields of science and medicine. The seasonal dynamics of population abundance of C. closterium in different ecotopes (epizoon of invertebrates and their food spectra, epiphyton of bottom vegetation, periphyton of the experimental and anthropogenic substrates of the different seas) is presented for the first time. The maximum abundance of the species population (65.6·10³ cells·cm-2) was registered in the epizoon of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam. in March at the water temperature of +7.7 °C at a depth of 2.5 m in the Black Sea. The maximum abundance was registered in the epiphyton of green algae (896·10³ cells·cm-2) and in the periphyton of asbestos plates (728·10³ cells·cm-2) in August at the water temperature of +24.5 °C in the Sea of Japan. The abundance dynamics of C. closterium natural populations in the local habitats changed depending on the season, the depth, and the type of substrate. The similarities and differences in the distribution of C. closterium in the sea microphytobenthos are discussed.