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BACTERIA‐INDUCED MOTILITY REDUCTION IN LINGULODINIUM POLYEDRUM (DINOPHYCEAE) 1
Author(s) -
Mayali Xavier,
Franks Peter J. S.,
Tanaka Yuji,
Azam Farooq
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2008.00549.x
Subject(s) - dinoflagellate , biology , dinophyceae , motility , phytoplankton , protease , bacteria , population , algal bloom , botany , biochemistry , ecology , microbiology and biotechnology , enzyme , nutrient , genetics , demography , sociology
Biotic factors that affect phytoplankton physiology and behavior are not well characterized but probably play a crucial role in regulating their population dynamics in nature. We document evidence that some marine bacteria can decrease the swimming speed of motile phytoplankton through the release of putative protease(s). Using the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum (F. Stein) J. D. Dodge as a model system, we showed that the motility‐reducing components of bacterial‐algal cocultures were mostly heat labile, were of high molecular weight (>50 kDa), and could be partially neutralized by incubations with protease inhibitors. We further showed that additions of the purified protease pronase E decreased dinoflagellate swimming speed in a concentration‐dependent manner. We propose that motility can be used as a marker for dinoflagellate stress or general unhealthy status due to proteolytic bacteria, among other factors.