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You may have memories of running after fireflies with hands outstretched on a warm summer evening. You may have even watched some discovery channel documentary on the mysteries of the deep sea and marveled at those 'glowing' organisms featured. Chances are however, you probably haven't heard too much about the plethora of other bioluminescent creatures inhabiting this planet.
Bioluminescence (literally meaning living light) occurs within many living organisms, although, most are relegated to the deep sea. This chemical reaction involves the oxidation of Luciferin (just a name for a class of biological light emitting pigments). While related, the name doesn't come from any devilish origins, but rather the latin 'lucifer' meaning "light bringer".
Depending on the organism, the light can be used for camouflage, attraction, or even communication among bacteria to name a few. Some of the more notable organisms that bioluminesce include fireflies, glow worms, bacteria, a plethora of marine life, and even mushrooms. (Here's a favorite video of mine from planet earth on the glow worm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBIEmjaoE5w)
Today however, we'll focus on a particular light emitting alga known as Pyrocystis fusiformis. These dinoflagellates typically do not occur in high enough concentrations among marine algae to produce a very noticeable glow. However, when the conditions are right (excess nutrients, enough sun, etc) an algal bloom can occur and populations explode. Chances are you've heard of this phenomenon before which (albeit not involving this particular organism) is also known as a Red Tide.
Here's a video of one such concentration in a bay in australia. They are simply throwing water into the bay as the algae only luminesce when disturbed. A popular theory is that the light is used to attract predators of the grazers of dinoflagellates. Case et al. (1995) demonstrated that the feeding rate of squid of mysids in the dark increases significantly when bioluminescent dinoflagellates are present.
There is even a bay in Puerto Rico full of the stuff which people can kayak in. http://www.biobay.com/
With a little luck and a LOT of patience, you can grow your own bioluminscent algae at home.
Bioluminescence (literally meaning living light) occurs within many living organisms, although, most are relegated to the deep sea. This chemical reaction involves the oxidation of Luciferin (just a name for a class of biological light emitting pigments). While related, the name doesn't come from any devilish origins, but rather the latin 'lucifer' meaning "light bringer".
Depending on the organism, the light can be used for camouflage, attraction, or even communication among bacteria to name a few. Some of the more notable organisms that bioluminesce include fireflies, glow worms, bacteria, a plethora of marine life, and even mushrooms. (Here's a favorite video of mine from planet earth on the glow worm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBIEmjaoE5w)
Today however, we'll focus on a particular light emitting alga known as Pyrocystis fusiformis. These dinoflagellates typically do not occur in high enough concentrations among marine algae to produce a very noticeable glow. However, when the conditions are right (excess nutrients, enough sun, etc) an algal bloom can occur and populations explode. Chances are you've heard of this phenomenon before which (albeit not involving this particular organism) is also known as a Red Tide.
Here's a video of one such concentration in a bay in australia. They are simply throwing water into the bay as the algae only luminesce when disturbed. A popular theory is that the light is used to attract predators of the grazers of dinoflagellates. Case et al. (1995) demonstrated that the feeding rate of squid of mysids in the dark increases significantly when bioluminescent dinoflagellates are present.
There is even a bay in Puerto Rico full of the stuff which people can kayak in. http://www.biobay.com/
With a little luck and a LOT of patience, you can grow your own bioluminscent algae at home.
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Signing UpStep 1Gather the Materials
A number of marine enthusiasts already grow phytoplankton at home for use in feeding various species of marine life. The method we'll use is rather similar.
To start, you need,
-A clear growing container (shallow containers with lots of surface area work best)
-Sea Salt
-A grow light and timer
-Micro Algae Grow
-A Starter Culture
Sea Salt: No, not from your pantry you gourmet fiend, you can get this at most pet or aquarium stores.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754897
Grow Light: you can pick up a plant fluorescent and rack from walmart for ~$10.... Make sure you have a light timer.
Micro Algae grow: our most crucial ingredient. (besides the actual algae) There are a number of nutrient formulas people have experimented with, and truthfully, I've only had mixed results with this one. Experiment with what works best. You can get it here:
https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi
A Starter Culture: These can be obtained from a few places online. I recommend www.empco.org/edu
To start, you need,
-A clear growing container (shallow containers with lots of surface area work best)
-Sea Salt
-A grow light and timer
-Micro Algae Grow
-A Starter Culture
Sea Salt: No, not from your pantry you gourmet fiend, you can get this at most pet or aquarium stores.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754897
Grow Light: you can pick up a plant fluorescent and rack from walmart for ~$10.... Make sure you have a light timer.
Micro Algae grow: our most crucial ingredient. (besides the actual algae) There are a number of nutrient formulas people have experimented with, and truthfully, I've only had mixed results with this one. Experiment with what works best. You can get it here:
https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi
A Starter Culture: These can be obtained from a few places online. I recommend www.empco.org/edu
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i ordered some pyrocystis fusiformis from empco and tried to make my own growth medium. i emptied fresh bottles of mineral water, filled them with destilled water and added sea salt until it reached a density of ca. 1025 kg/m3 (at 25°C). finally i added some nutritions. they are not the same as in the article since i had to buy them in germany, but they are f/2 as well.
unfortunately, in my mixed media, the algae dies within a single day! now, the empco starter culture is nearly empty and i really need some good ideas about what is going wrong.
could a lack of co2 let them die that fast? the starter culture is living for a month now in it's bottle without air pump and everything. what about salinity? it's not that sensible, is it? or maybe ph? is destilled water a good choice?
any ideas whats going wrong?!?
thanks a lot!
I changed a few things in the protocol: First, I used "Micro Algae Grow" this time.
Second, and I think this is important, I started each experiment with a small portion of algae and added only a little bit of growth medium every few hours. This is to avoid osmosis through a a sudden change in salt levels. This might have been the problem last time.
I have the impression that my algae is growing pretty slow. It can takes weeks until it reaches the same density as before.
For one I agree with kholland, and remember its not the replication of the organisms environment that matters in these kind of experiments. What you are trying to achieve is growth of a species, so you want to achieve perfect conditions for growth, i.e. the perfect environment, not their usual one. So hell make a CO2 generator and make sure you use that algae grow! I'll be trying to grow the same species in a month or two so that's what I'll be doing as I've perfected growing freshwater algae with the method above.
Hope I helped,
Zane
I realize 1025 kg/m3 is the density of sea water, but, I think you will get better results measuring that way rather then doing it based on density....
Additionally, I wouldn't use distilled water, ideally, I would just get fresh water from a source (nearby streams, which will already have some salt) and then add salt to 35ppt.
Can any one help me out in some calculation work its really very urgent , please help me out ..... i need to consume 1932.3kg/hr of CO2 with the help of Algae in a pond (water) for example Raceway pond , so i need to know the specific area to construct that pond and its sizing and dimension (length,etc) and the quantity of water needed and amount of algae used so that it easily consumes the mentioned amount of CO2 rate per hour..... please help me out soon you can also drop your suggestion and questions if any my email id is : sudhirmalik2011@gmail.com ....i will be waiting for your reply soon and i'll be highly thankful to you, if someone can help please do tell me its very urgent....
Thank you
*It's funny that you mentioned it though. We had a county meeting about banning fertilizer during the high rain months for run off. The argument from the industry representative was that all of the oil from the Gulf makes the fertilizer issue moot. I thought it was a bit sleazy.