Influence of Water Quality and Climate Variables on Growth of the Harmful Alga, Prymnesium parvum by Md Rakib Hasan Rashel, B.S., M.S. A Dissertation In Biology Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved Dr. Reynaldo Patiño Chair of Committee Dr. Timothy B. Grabowski Dr. Randall M. Jeter Dr. Michael J. San Francisco Dr. John C. Zak Dr. Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School May 2020 Copyright 2020, Md Rakib H. Rashel Texas Tech University, Rakib H. Rashel, May 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my advisor and mentor, Dr. Reynaldo Patiño, for giving me the opportunity to work in his laboratory, for his continuous support and guidance, and great patience on every aspect of my doctoral program. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my other committee members, Dr. Timothy B. Grabowski, Dr. Randall M. Jeter, Dr. Michael J. San Francisco, Dr. John C. Zak for their time, support, valuable advice and critical assessments I needed during this program. I would like to thank Dr. Matthew VanLandeghem for his time and effort to teach me useful laboratory methods relevant to this project. A special thanks go to my Dr. Tirhas Hailu for her help, friendly suggestions during my doctoral program. I would like to thank Rita Jones and Amanda Garcia from the Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit (TCFWRU) for their administrative support. I would also like to thank my former and colleagues and lab mates, Seydou Toe, Emily Richardson, Brittanie Dabney, Mousumi Mary, Shisbeth Tabora, and Lindsay Williams for their help, support, and shared resources. I would also thank Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, for providing the opportunity to work and financial support in the form of a Teaching/Research Assistantship for all these years. My research was ii Texas Tech University, Rakib H. Rashel, May 2020 supported by Texas Tech University intramural funding. I would like to thank TTUAB and TechASM for providing me travel funds and Grants-in-Aid for research. I am grateful to my family, especially my parents and elder brothers, for all their love and support. Last but not least, I am thankful to my wife, Eshrat Labony, for her tremendous support throughout my doctoral degree. iii Texas Tech University, Rakib H. Rashel, May 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ xv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................... xvii I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 Biology of harmful algae ................................................................................................. 1 Cyanobacteria and blue green algal bloom .................................................................. 3 Dinoflagellates and Red tide ........................................................................................ 5 Brown Tide .................................................................................................................. 6 Golden alga .................................................................................................................. 6 Global occurrence of golden alga .................................................................................... 7 Environmental factors associated with golden alga blooms ........................................... 9 Salinity ......................................................................................................................... 9 Inoculum size ............................................................................................................. 10 Sulfate ........................................................................................................................ 11 Fluoride ...................................................................................................................... 12 Water hardness .......................................................................................................... 12 Temperature ............................................................................................................... 13 pH .............................................................................................................................. 13 Nutrients .................................................................................................................... 14 Carbon dioxide .......................................................................................................... 16 Significance of the present study .................................................................................. 17 Research objectives ....................................................................................................... 18 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................. 19 Ⅱ. INFLUENCE OF GENETIC BACKGROUND, SALINITY, AND INOCULUM SIZE ON GROWTH OF THE ICHTHYOTOXIC GOLDEN ALGA (PRYMNESIUM PARVUM) ..................................................................... 29 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 29 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 30 2. Materials and methods .............................................................................................. 33 iv Texas Tech University, Rakib H. Rashel, May 2020 2.1. Basic culture procedures ..................................................................................... 33 2.2. Experimental cultures ......................................................................................... 35 2.3. Analytical procedures ......................................................................................... 36 3. Results ....................................................................................................................... 38 3.1. Influence of inoculum size and genetic strain .................................................... 38 3.2. Influence of salinity, genetic strain, and temperature ......................................... 39 4. Discussion ................................................................................................................. 42 4.1. Inoculum size and genetic strain ........................................................................ 42 4.2. Salinity, genetic strain, and temperature ............................................................ 43 4.3. Early cell density ................................................................................................ 45 4.4. Ecological considerations and conclusions ........................................................ 46 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................. 49 Tables ............................................................................................................................ 53 Figures ........................................................................................................................... 54 Ⅲ. GROWTH RESPONSE OF THE ICHTHYOTOXIC HAPTOPHYTE, PRYMNESIUM PARVUM CARTER, TO CHANGES IN SULFATE AND FLUORIDE CONCENTRATIONS ........................................................................ 62 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 62 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 63 2. Materials and methods .............................................................................................. 66 2.1. Basic culture procedures ..................................................................................... 66 2.2. Experimental design ........................................................................................... 67 2.3. Analytical procedures ......................................................................................... 70 3. Results ....................................................................................................................... 72 3.1. Effects of changes in sulfate concentration at low salinity ................................ 72 3.2. Effects of salinity under different major salt scenarios ...................................... 74 3.3. Effects of differences in sulfate concentration at high salinity .......................... 75 3.4. Effects of changes in fluoride concentration at low salinity .............................. 76 4. Discussion ................................................................................................................. 77 4.1. Effects of sulfate and other ions at low salinity .................................................