RESUMO Esse trabalho caracterizou o zooplâncton e as variáveis ambientais do reservatório Canoas (Assaré, Ceará, Brasil) através de oito coletas consecutivas mensais, durante um período de estiagem intensa. Amostras de zooplâncton foram coletadas com arrastos verticais de rede de plâncton de 50 µm em três pontos distribuídos longitudinalmente. Foram encontradas cinco espécies: Brachionus calicyflorus Pallas, 1938 (Brachionidae: Rotifera), Diaphanosoma spinulosum Herbst, 1967 (Sididae: Cladocera), Thermocyclops decipiens Kiefer, 1929 e T. inversus Kiefer, 1936 (Cyclopoida: Copepoda), e Notodiaptomus cearensis Wright, 1936 (Calanoida: Copepoda). Thermocyclops decipiens apresentou a maior abundância relativa, seguido de N. cearensis e B. calicyflorus. A variação espacial e temporal da comunidade zooplanctônica pode ser explicada pela maioria das variáveis ambientais associadas a N. cearensis e B. calicyflorus, enquanto T. decipiens não se associou a nenhuma delas. A baixa riqueza de espécies e a dominância de T. decipiens e B. calicyflorus podem ser reflexos da elevada condição trófica do reservatório, em período de estiagem intensa, e N. cearensis está associado também com essas condições mais adversas.

ABSTRACT This work characterized the zooplankton and the environmental variables of the Canoas reservoir (Assaré, Ceará, Brazil) through eight consecutive monthly collections during a period of intense drought. Zooplankton samples were collected by vertical plots of 50 µm plankton net at three longitudinally distributed points. Five species were found: Brachionus calicyflorus Pallas, 1938 (Brachionidae: Rotifera), Diaphanosoma spinulosum Herbst, 1967 (Sididae: Cladocera), Thermocyclops decipiens Kiefer, 1929 and T. inversus Kiefer, 1936 (Cyclopoida: Copepoda), and Notodiaptomus cearensis Wright, 1936 (Calanoida: Copepoda). Thermocyclops decipiens had the highest relative abundance, followed by N. cearensis and B. calicyflorus. The spatial and temporal variation of the zooplankton community can be explained by most of the environmental variables associated with N. cearensis and B. calicyflorus, while T. decipiens was not associated with any of them. The low species richness and dominance of T. decipiens and B. calicyflorus may be a reflection of the high trophic condition of the reservoir during severe drought, and N. cearensis is also associated with these more adverse conditions.

ABSTRACT Freshwater algae are rich sources of structurally biologically active metabolites, such as fatty acids, steroids, carotenoids and polysaccharides. Among these metabolites, lectins stand out. Lectins are proteins or glycoproteins of non-immune origin which bind to carbohydrates or glycoconjugates, without changing ligand structure. Many studies have reported on the use of Spirogyra spp. as effective bioindicators of heavy metals; however, reports on Spirogyra molecular bioprospecting are quite limited. Therefore, this study aimed to detect, isolate, purify and characterize a lectin present in the freshwater green algae Spirogyra. Presence of the lectin protein in the extract was detected by hemagglutination assays. Subsequently, the protein extract was subjected to a sugar inhibition assay to identify the lectin-specific carbohydrate. Following this, the extract was applied to a guar gum column to afford the pure lectin. The lectin was inhibited by N-acetyl-glucosamine and N-acetyl-beta-D-mannose, but more strongly by D-galactose. The apparent molecular mass of the purified lectin was evaluated by Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS-PAGE). Electrophoretic analysis revealed a single protein band with an apparent molecular mass of 56 kDa. Thus, it could be concluded that a lectin was purified from Spirogyra spp.