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Evidence of phagotrophy in Dinophysis fortii (Dinophysiales, Dinophyceae), a dinoflagellate that causes diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP)
Author(s) -
Koike Kazuhiko,
Koike Kanae,
Takagi Minoru,
Ogata Takehiko,
Ishimaru Takashi
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
phycological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.438
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1835
pISSN - 1322-0829
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1835.2000.00194.x
Subject(s) - diarrhetic shellfish poisoning , dinophyceae , biology , dinoflagellate , dinophysis , shellfish , zoology , botany , ecology , fishery , phytoplankton , aquatic animal , fish <actinopterygii> , nutrient
SUMMARY Food vacuoles were found in one species of pho‐totrophic Dinophysis, Dinophysis fortii Pavillard, collected in Okkirai Bay. Under transmission electron microscopy, almost 70% of observed food vacuoles were characterized by membranous profiles and contained large numbers of mitochondria. The mitochondria in the food vacuole had different morphologies from those in the D. fortii cytoplasm. This indicates that these vacuoles are not autolytic accumulation bodies, but ‘true’ food vacuoles. Identification of the origin of the contents failed, but the existence of large amounts of foreign mitochondria implies that the contents in the vacuoles were derived from eukaryotic prey. Other than the observation of the food vacuoles, bacterial cells were observed in the flagellar canal. Because the flagellar canal and connecting pusule sacs had been reported to relate to macromolecule uptake, the prey organisms of D. fortii were assumed to be both eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms.