Contrasting Mixotrophic Lifestyles Reveal Different Ecological Niches in Two Closely Related Marine Protists

Wilken, Susanne; Choi, Chang Jae; Worden, Alexandra Z.

doi:10.1111/jpy.12920

Cited by 52 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 91 publications

(117 reference statements)

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“…By the same approach, haptophytes and chrysophytes (another stramenopile lineage) were found to feed on Prochlorococcus in the Atlantic subtropical gyres (Hartmann et al, 2013). Moreover, an obligate-predatory strategy has been reported for two cultured marine chrysophytes belonging to the Ochromonas genus, which, although actively photosynthesizing in the light, cannot achieve positive growth rates by photosynthesis alone, and one of which can live without light (Wilken et al, 2020).…”

Section: Mixotrophy In Dictyochophytesmentioning

confidence: 94%

Seasonal and Geographical Transitions in Eukaryotic Phytoplankton Community Structure in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

et al. 2020

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Dynamics of Uncultivated Predatory Phytoplankton multiple chloroplast genes as well as expression of a selfish element (group II intron) in the psaA gene. Comparative analyses across the Pacific and Atlantic sites support the conclusion that predatory dictyochophytes thrive under low nutrient conditions. The observations that several uncultured dictyochophyte lineages are seemingly capable of photosynthesis and predation, raises questions about potential shifts in phytoplankton trophic roles associated with seasonality and long-term ocean change.

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Section: Mixotrophy In Dictyochophytesmentioning

confidence: 94%

Seasonal and Geographical Transitions in Eukaryotic Phytoplankton Community Structure in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

et al. 2020

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“…Clearly, the taxonomic composition of the mixotrophic assemblage will have an impact on the overall feeding behavior of MNAN. Even closely related mixotrophic algae can exhibit significant differences in feeding behavior in response to light and prey availability (McKie-Krisberg et al 2015, Lie et al 2018, Wilken et al 2020. Predicting their activities is not yet possible, so direct measurements are Fig.…”

Section: Relative Contributions Of Hnan and Mnan To Grazing Pressure mentioning

confidence: 99%

Diel oscillations in the feeding activity of heterotrophic and mixotrophic nanoplankton in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

Connell

Ribalet

Armbrust

et al. 2020

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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Daily oscillations in photosynthetically active radiation strongly influence the timing of metabolic processes in picocyanobacteria, but it is less clear how the light-dark cycle affects the activities of their consumers. We investigated the relationship between marine picocyanobacteria and nanoplanktonic consumers throughout the diel cycle to determine whether heterotrophic and mixotrophic protists (algae with phagotrophic ability) display significant periodicity in grazing pressure. Carbon biomass of Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus was estimated continuously from abundances and cell size measurements made by flow cytometry. Picocyanobacterial dynamics were then compared to nanoplankton abundances and ingestion of fluorescently labeled bacteria measured every 4 h during a 4 d survey in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Grazing of the labeled bacteria by heterotrophic nanoplankton was significantly greater at night than during the day. The grazing activity of mixotrophic nanoplankton showed no diel periodicity, suggesting that they may feed continuously, albeit at lower rates than heterotrophic nanoplankton, to alleviate nutrient limitation in this oligotrophic environment. Diel changes in Prochlorococcus biomass indicated that they could support substantial growth of nanoplankton if those grazers are the main source of picocyanobacterial mortality, and that grazers may contribute to temporally stable abundances of picocyanobacteria.

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“…Growth rates of three mixotrophic species of the stramenopile genus Ochromonas under autotrophic growth in the light without bacterial prey, under mixotrophic growth on bacterial prey in the light, and under heterotrophic growth on bacterial prey in darkness. Data on marine isolates (a,b) and the freshwater O. globosa (c) are from[37] and[38], respectively. Note the difference in y-axis scaling in panel (c) versus (a) and (b).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The need to account for cell biology in characterizing predatory mixotrophs in aquatic environments

Wilken

Yung

Hamilton

et al. 2019

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Photosynthesis in eukaryotes first arose through phagocytotic processes wherein an engulfed cyanobacterium was not digested, but instead became a permanent organelle. Other photosynthetic lineages then arose when eukaryotic cells engulfed other already photosynthetic eukaryotic cells. Some of the resulting lineages subsequently lost their ability for phagocytosis, while many others maintained the ability to do both processes. These mixotrophic taxa have more complicated ecological roles, in that they are both primary producers and consumers that can shift more towards producing the organic matter that forms the base of aquatic food chains, or towards respiring and releasing CO 2 . We still have much to learn about which taxa are predatory mixotrophs as well as about the physiological consequences of this lifestyle, in part, because much of the diversity of unicellular eukaryotes in aquatic ecosystems remains uncultured. Here, we discuss existing methods for studying predatory mixotrophs, their individual biases, and how single-cell approaches can enhance knowledge of these important taxa. The question remains what the gold standard should be for assigning a mixotrophic status to ill-characterized or uncultured taxa—a status that dictates how organisms are incorporated into carbon cycle models and how their ecosystem roles may shift in future lakes and oceans. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Single cell ecology’.

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Contrasting Mixotrophic Lifestyles Reveal Different Ecological Niches in Two Closely Related Marine Protists

Cited by 52 publications

References 91 publications

Seasonal and Geographical Transitions in Eukaryotic Phytoplankton Community Structure in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Seasonal and Geographical Transitions in Eukaryotic Phytoplankton Community Structure in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Diel oscillations in the feeding activity of heterotrophic and mixotrophic nanoplankton in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

The need to account for cell biology in characterizing predatory mixotrophs in aquatic environments

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