<br><div><h1 class="western" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;font-weight:normal;line-height:0.48cm">
<font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="4" style="font-size:15pt">Chemists
reveal how algae delete unwanted 'competitors'</font></font></font></h1>
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<a href="http://www.physorg.com/archive/30-01-2012/" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Sans;line-height:0.48cm"><font color="#0e3266"><font>January
30, 2012</font></font></a></p>
<div id="news-content" dir="LTR">
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-top:0.21cm;margin-bottom:0.13cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<img src="http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2012/chemistsreve.jpg" name="Afbeeldingen1" alt="Chemists reveal how algae delete unwanted 'competitors'" align="LEFT" hspace="4" vspace="3" width="260" height="173" border="0"><font color="#696969"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">The
chemist Professor Dr. Georg Pohnert of Jena University checks
cultures of algae kept in a special container. Credit: Photo:
Jan-Peter Kasper/Univ. Jena</font></font></font></p>
</div>
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<span style="line-height:0.48cm">Every morning when the
sun comes up, the ocean ground is radically cleaned. As soon as the
first rays of sunlight find their way into the water, the microalgae
"Nitzschia cf pellucida" start their deadly 'morning
hygiene'. The algae, the size of only some few micrometers, wrap
themselves and their surroundings in a highly toxic poison: cyanogen
bromide, a chemical relative of hydrocyanic acid, although much more
toxic.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom:0cm"><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">Like
a 'molecular toothbrush', which removes other
</font></font></font><a href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/micro+organisms/"><font color="#0e3266"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">micro-organisms</font></font></font></a><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">thoroughly,
every morning this chemical mace 'disinfects' the ground on which
these diatoms grow. "Thus they can ideally grow and keep direct
competitors for light and free space in check," Professor Dr.
Georg Pohnert of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany)
states. The director of the Institute of Inorganic and </font></font></font><a href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/analytical+chemistry/"><font color="#0e3266"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">Analytical
Chemistry</font></font></font></a><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">
revealed together with his team and colleagues of the University
Ghent (Belgium) the chemical devastating blow of the diatoms. Their
findings were published in the new edition of the well known science
magazine </font></font></font><a href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/proceedings+of+the+national+academy+of+sciences/"><font color="#0e3266"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt"><i>Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences</i></font></font></font></a><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">.</font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">Cyanogen
bromide is a highly poisonous metabolic toxin and is – amongst
other things – being used for the lixiviating of gold ores. During
the First World War it was also used as a chemical weapon. "Until
now it wasn't even known that this poison occurs in the living nature
at all," says Professor Pohnert. For "Nitzschia cf
pellucida" the production of cyanogen bromide seems to be easy
though. As soon as the first rays of sunlight find their way into the
water, the cellular 'devil's workshop' starts to work. "From two
up to four hours after day break the concentration of the released
cyanogen bromide is at its highest, later on it decreases,"
Professor Pohnert explains one of the results of his new study.</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Sans;line-height:0.48cm">The
scientists can still only speculate about the fact that the poison
doesn't harm the diatoms themselves. One thing is for sure: While the
'competing' algae give up after two hours at most, subsequent to
being attacked by cyanogen bromide the poison at the same time
doesn't harm Nitzschia cf pellucida. To find the reasons for this is
one of the next research objectives of the Jena scientists and their
Belgian partners.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<font color="#000000" style="line-height:0.48cm"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">But
according to chemist Pohnert this would be pure basic research.
Cyanogen bromide is completely inapplicable to practical use – for
instance as a means against unwanted algae growth. Because it is
certain that in this case it is not only the </font></font></font><a href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/algae/" style="line-height:0.48cm"><font color="#0e3266"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">algae</font></font></font></a><font color="#000000" style="line-height:0.48cm"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">
that would be damaged.</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<font color="#000000" style="line-height:0.48cm"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt"><b>More
information:</b></font></font></font><font color="#000000" style="line-height:0.48cm"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">
Vanelslander B et al.: Daily bursts of biogenic cyanogen bromide
(BrCN) control biofilm formation around a marine benthic diatom.</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<font color="#000000" style="line-height:0.48cm"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt"><i>PNAS
</i></font></font></font><font color="#000000" style="line-height:0.48cm"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">2012,
</font></font></font><font color="#0e3266" style="line-height:0.48cm"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt"><b><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1108062109" target="_blank" style="line-height:0.48cm">doi:10.1073/pnas.1108062109</a></b></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Sans;line-height:0.48cm">Provided
by Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">"</font></font></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">... met verstrekkende gevolgen voor het 'klimaat'?</font></font></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt">Henk Elegeert</font></font></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial;padding-top:0cm;padding-right:0cm;padding-bottom:0cm;padding-left:0cm;line-height:0.48cm">
<font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Sans"><font size="3" style="font-size:11pt"><br></font></font></font></p></div>