The mixotroph Ochromonas tuberculata may invade and suppress specialist phago- and phototroph plankton communities depending on nutrient conditions

@article{Katechakis2006TheMO,
  title={The mixotroph Ochromonas tuberculata may invade and suppress specialist phago- and phototroph plankton communities depending on nutrient conditions},
  author={Alexis Katechakis and Herwig Stibor},
  journal={Oecologia},
  year={2006},
  volume={148},
  pages={692-701}
}
Mixotrophic organisms combine light, mineral nutrients, and prey as supplementary resources. Based on theoretical assumptions and field observations, we tested experimentally the hypothesis that mixotrophs may invade established plankton communities depending on the trophic status of the system, and investigated possible effects on food web structure, species diversity, and nutrient dynamics. To test our hypothesis, we inoculated the mixotrophic nanoflagellate Ochromonas tuberculata into… 
View on Springer
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
41 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
1
Background Citations
16
Results Citations
1

41 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Coexistence of mixotrophs, autotrophs, and heterotrophs in planktonic microbial communities.
TLDR
Coexistence involves predation by zooflagellates and mixotrophs balancing the high competitive ability of bacteria for phosphorus, the partitioning of partially overlapping resources between all populations, and possibly nonequlibrium dynamics.
Mixotrophy and the toxicity of Ochromonas in pelagic food webs
TLDR
The view that Ochromonas can be toxic to other components of the food web with which it interacts is supported, especially toxic to zooplankton that directly consume it, although the effect depends upon O chromonas cell density and whether or not a good food source is simultaneously present.
Importance of mixotrophic bacterivory can be predicted by light and loss rates
TLDR
It is shown experimentally that the combined effect of light and loss rates (dilution) predicts the success of mixotrophic bacterivorous flagellates and the results suggest that total bacterivory, contrary as seen in the traditional microbial loop concept, has a more intricate coupling to light.
Biophysical Aspects of Resource Acquisition and Competition in Algal Mixotrophs
TLDR
This work identifies one mechanism by which mixotrophs can effectively outcompete specialists for nutrient elements at low resource concentrations, when the uptake of nutrients is limited by diffusion toward the cell, and the investment in cell membrane transporters can be minimized.
A light-induced shortcut in the planktonic microbial loop
TLDR
The results show that light mediates the impact of mixotrophic bacterivores, and these results have far-reaching implications for how nutrient cycling is affected by light.
The need to account for cell biology in characterizing predatory mixotrophs in aquatic environments
TLDR
Existing methods for studying predatory mixotrophs, their individual biases, and how single-cell approaches can enhance knowledge of these important taxa are discussed.
Selected interactions between phytoplankton, zooplankton and the microbial food web: Microcosm experiments in marine and limnic habitats
The experiments presented in this thesis elucidate selected interactions between the phytoplankton, the zooplankton and the microbial food web in aquatic ecosystems. The objective is to provide a…
From adverse to beneficial – contrasting dietary effects of freshwater mixotrophs on zooplankton
TLDR
It is suggested that toxicity may be the driver for the observed differences in cellular stoichiometry and fatty acid profiles of the mixotrophs, and challenged the general assumption that chrysophytes are of low value as food for zooplankton.
Grazing resistance and poor food quality of a widespread mixotroph impair zooplankton secondary production
TLDR
The results show that the increasing dominance of colonial mixotrophic algal genus Dinobryon can result in reduced dietary energy transfer to consumers at higher trophic levels, similarly to cyanobacteria in eutrophic lakes.
Phototrophic microorganisms in the symbiotic communities of Baikal sponges: Diversity of psbA gene (encoding D1 protein of photosystem II) sequences
The psbA gene, which encodes a major photosystem II protein (protein II or D1), is a marker for the presence of phototrophic organisms in water communities. We have pioneered the use of this marker…
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 62 REFERENCES
Laboratorary Experiments with a Mixotrophic Chrysophyte and Obligately Phagotrophic and Photographic Competitors
TLDR
In laboratory experiments, Ochromonas was excluded by heterotrophic flagellates when only phagotrophic growth was possible, but in nature, the mixotrophic strategy may be successful when resources are limiting.
Mixotrophs combine resource use to outcompete specialists: Implications for aquatic food webs
TLDR
It is hypothesize instead that the mixotrophic grazing strategy is responsible for deep algal accumulations in many aquatic environments, previously explained by resource availability.
Mixotrophic versus photoautotrophic specialist algae as food for zooplankton: The light : nutrient hypothesis might not hold for mixotrophs
TLDR
The results indicate that mixotrophs might have a balancing effect on variations in transfer efficiency caused by perturbations to light and nutrient supplies, and this could have an important effect on herbivore growth and fecundity.
Conceptual models of mixotrophy in planktonic protists and some ecological and evolutionary implications
TLDR
The probable effects of mixotrophy on gross growth efficiency, productivity of the microbial food web and coupling of the microbes' food web to metazoan zooplankton are discussed.
The Role of Mixotrophy in Pelagic Environments
TLDR
This paper reviews the occurrence and ecological importance of mixotrophic flagellates and ciliates in pelagic environments, particularly in marine ecosystems, and presents a hypothesis for a growth strategy of bacterivorous mixotroph flageLLates.
Mixotrophy of a photosynthetic flagellate viewed from an optimal foraging perspective.
TLDR
Findings support the view of mixotrophy as a strategy of nutrient uptake in nutrient poor (oligotrophic) pelagic environments (Nygaard and Tobiesen 1993) and show that ideas of optimal foraging can be applied to unicellular organisms.
Mixotrophy in planktonic protists: an overview
TLDR
Results indicate that, under specified conditions, mixotrophs should represent an important link in the flux of materials through planktonic food webs, however, quantifying these fluxes remains a challenge for the future.
Bacterivory in algae: A survival strategy during nutrient limitation
TLDR
Bacterivory in obligate phototrophic algal flagellates may be an important strategy for acquiring nutrients during periods of inorganic nutrient limitation, and Doddema and Van der Veer suggested that phagocytosis might permit utilization of particulate organic N and P when inorganic nutrients are in limited supply.
Utilization of substitutable carbon and phosphorus sources by the mixotrophic chrysophyte Ochromonas sp.
TLDR
The investigated strain is a bacterivorous flagellate that can enhance its photosynthetic apparatus and grow phototrophically when bacterial densities are low, and appears to be bound up with costs and trade-offs.
On the Strategy of "Eating Your Competitor": A Mathematical Analysis of Algal Mixotrophy
TLDR
The classical theories of competition and predation are expanded to explore the effect on the microbial food web of one trophic group possessing both strategies and it is shown that the mixotroph can compensate for a "price" paid in reduced affinity for bacterial prey by a sufficiently high affinity for mineral nutrients.
...
1
2
3
4
5
...