• ALGAE
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.303-312
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• 2015

The intimate physical interaction between food algae and sacoglossan sea slug is a pertinent system to test the theory that “you are what you eat.” Some sacoglossan mollusks ingest and maintain chloroplasts that they acquire from the algae for photosynthesis. The basis of photosynthesis maintenance in these sea slugs was often explained by extensive horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from the food algae to the animal nucleus. Two large-scale expressed sequence tags databases of the green alga Bryopsis plumosa and sea slug Placida dendritica were established using 454 pyrosequencing. Comparison of the transcriptomes showed no possible case of putative HGT, except an actin gene from P. dendritica, designated as PdActin04, which showed 98.9% identity in DNA sequence with the complementary gene from B. plumosa, BpActin03. Highly conserved homologues of this actin gene were found from related green algae, but not in other photosynthetic sea slugs. Phylogenetic analysis showed incongruence between the gene and known organismal phylogenies of the two species. Our data suggest that HGT is not the primary reason underlying the maintenance of short-term kleptoplastidy in Placida dendritica.

• ALGAE
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.281-290
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• 2015

We explored phagotrophy of the phototrophic ciliate Mesodinium rubrum on the cyanobacterium Synechococcus. The ingestion and clearance rates of M. rubrum on Synechococcus as a function of prey concentration were measured. In addition, we calculated grazing coefficients by combining the field data on abundance of M. rubrum and co-occurring Synechococcus spp. with laboratory data on ingestion rates. The ingestion rate of M. rubrum on Synechococcus sp. linearly increased with increasing prey concentrations up to approximately 1.9 × 10⁶ cells mL^-1, to exhibit sigmoidal saturation at higher concentrations. The maximum ingestion and clearance rates of M. rubrum on Synechococcus were 2.1 cells predator^-1 h^-1 and 4.2 nL predator^-1 h^-1, respectively. The calculated grazing coefficients attributable to M. rubrum on cooccurring Synechococcus spp. reached 0.04 day^-1. M. rubrum could thus sometimes be an effective protistan grazer of Synechococcus in marine planktonic food webs. M. rubrum might also be able to form recurrent and massive blooms in diverse marine environments supported by the unique and complex mixotrophic arrays including phagotrphy on hetrotrophic bacteria and Synechococcus as well as digestion, kleptoplastidy and karyoklepty after the ingestion of cryptophyte prey.

• ALGAE
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• 제36권4호
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• pp.263-283
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• 2021

To explore the ecophysiological characteristics of the kleptoplastidic dinoflagellate Shimiella gracilenta, we determined its spatiotemporal distribution in Korean coastal waters and growth and ingestion rates as a function of prey concentration. The abundance of S. gracilenta at 28 stations from 2015 to 2018 was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Cells of S. gracilenta were detected at least once at all the stations and in each season, when temperature and salinity were 1.7-26.4℃ and 9.9-35.6, respectively. Moreover, among the 28 potential prey species tested, S. gracilenta SGJH1904 fed on diverse prey taxa. However, the highest abundance of S. gracilenta was only 3 cells mL^-1 during the study period. The threshold Teleaulax amphioxeia concentration for S. gracilenta growth was 5,618 cells mL^-1, which was much higher than the highest abundance of T. amphioxeia (667 cells mL^-1). Thus, T. amphioxeia was not likely to support the growth of S. gracilenta in the field during the study period. However, the maximum specific growth and ingestion rates of S. gracilenta on T. amphioxeia, the optimal prey species, were 1.36 d^-1 and 0.04 ng C predator^-1 d^-1, respectively. Thus, if the abundance of T. amphioxeia was much higher than 5,618 cells mL^-1, the abundance of S. gracilenta could be much higher than the highest abundance observed in this study. Eurythermal and euryhaline characteristics of S. gracilenta and its ability to feed on diverse prey species and conduct kleptoplastidy are likely to be responsible for its common spatiotemporal distribution.

• ALGAE
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.49-62
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• 2022

Water temperature affects plankton survival and growth. The dinoflagellate Shimiella gracilenta survives using the plastids of ingested prey, indicating kleptoplastidy. However, studies on the effects of water temperature on kleptoplastidic dinoflagellates are lacking. We explored the growth and ingestion rates of S. gracilenta as a function of water temperature. Furthermore, using data on its spatiotemporal distribution in Korean coastal waters during 2015-2018, we predicted its distribution under elevated temperature conditions of +2, +4, and +6℃. Growth rates of S. gracilenta with and without Teleaulax amphioxeia prey as well as ingestion rates were significantly affected by water temperature. Growth rates of S. gracilenta with and without prey were positive or zero at 5-25℃ but were negative at ≥30℃. The maximum growth rate of S. gracilenta with T. amphioxeia was 0.85 d^-1, achieved at 25℃, and 0.21 d^-1 at 20℃ without prey. The ingestion rate of S. gracilenta on T. amphioxeia at 25℃ (0.05 ng C predator^-1 d^-1) was greater than that at 20℃ (0.04 ng C predator^-1 d^-1). Thus, feeding may shift the optimal temperature for the maximum growth rate of S. gracilenta from 20 to 25℃. In spring and winter, the distributions of S. gracilenta under elevated temperature conditions were predicted not to differ from those during 2015-2018. However, S. gracilenta was predicted not to survive at some additional stations under elevated temperature conditions of +2, +4, and +6℃ in summer or under elevated temperature conditions of +6℃ in autumn. Therefore, global warming may affect the distribution of S. gracilenta.

• 한국해양학회지:바다
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.178-185
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• 2007

Myrionecta rubra Jankowski 1976(=Mesodinium rubrum Lohmann 1908)는 다양한 해양 환경에서 적조를 일으키는 매우 일반적인 원생생물인 혼합영양 섬모류이다. M. rubra의 실험실 종주가 처음 보고된 2000년 이후, M. rubra의 생태적 역할 및 진화적 중요성에 관한 새로운 논문들이 발표되고 있다. 본고는 M. rubra의 생태학적 중요성에 관한 새로운 연구 결과들을 중심으로, 이 혼합영양성 종에 대한 정확한 인식에 도움이 되는 종설로서 작성되었다. M. rubra는 Teleaulax sp.와 Geminigera sp. 등의 은편모류를 섭식한 후 이들의 색소체를 잔류시켜 광합성을 하는 "kleptoplastidic ciliate"이다. 최근에는 M. rubra의 박테리아 섭식이 확인되어, 지금까지 보고된 M. rubra의 영양유형은 광합성, 박테리아 섭식, 편모조류섭식 등으로 다양하다. M. rubra는 요각류, 곤쟁이류, 유즐동물과 멸치류의 유생, 그리고 이매패류 치패와 같은 metazoan predator의 먹이생물로 알려져 있다. 2006년에는 설사성 패독을 일으키는 원생생물인 와편모류 Dinophysis도 M. rubra를 섭식하는 섭식자 가운데 하나라는 사실이 새로이 발표되었다. 따라서, 해양 혼합영양 섬모류 M. rubra는 표영 생태계 먹이망(pelagic food web)의 핵심적 주요 linking ciliate의 하나로서 에너지 및 유기물 흐름에 크게 기여할 것이다.