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Suter EA, Pachiadaki M, Taylor GT, Edgcomb VP. Eukaryotic Parasites Are Integral to a Productive Microbial Food Web in Oxygen-Depleted Waters. Front Microbiol 2022; 12:764605. [PMID: 35069470 PMCID: PMC8770914 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.764605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Oxygen-depleted water columns (ODWCs) host a diverse community of eukaryotic protists that change dramatically in composition over the oxic-anoxic gradient. In the permanently anoxic Cariaco Basin, peaks in eukaryotic diversity occurred in layers where dark microbial activity (chemoautotrophy and heterotrophy) were highest, suggesting a link between prokaryotic activity and trophic associations with protists. Using 18S rRNA gene sequencing, parasites and especially the obligate parasitic clade, Syndiniales, appear to be particularly abundant, suggesting parasitism is an important, but overlooked interaction in ODWC food webs. Syndiniales were also associated with certain prokaryotic groups that are often found in ODWCs, including Marinimicrobia and Marine Group II archaea, evocative of feedbacks between parasitic infection events, release of organic matter, and prokaryotic assimilative activity. In a network analysis that included all three domains of life, bacterial and archaeal taxa were putative bottleneck and hub species, while a large proportion of edges were connected to eukaryotic nodes. Inclusion of parasites resulted in a more complex network with longer path lengths between members. Together, these results suggest that protists, and especially protistan parasites, play an important role in maintaining microbial food web complexity, particularly in ODWCs, where protist diversity and microbial productivity are high, but energy resources are limited relative to euphotic waters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Suter
- Biology, Chemistry & Environmental Studies Department, Center for Environmental Research and Coastal Oceans Monitoring, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY, United States.,School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United States
| | - Maria Pachiadaki
- Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States
| | - Gordon T Taylor
- School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United States
| | - Virginia P Edgcomb
- Department of Geology & Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States
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Rataj M, Vd'ačný P. Cryptic host-driven speciation of mobilid ciliates epibiotic on freshwater planarians. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 161:107174. [PMID: 33831547 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Revised: 03/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Mobilids are among the most taxonomically diverse but morphologically uniform groups of epibiotic ciliates. They attach to their hosts by means of an adhesive disc as harmless commensals such as Urceolaria, or as parasites causing significant economic loss such as some Trichodina species. We investigated the diversity, species boundaries, and phylogenetic relationships of mobilids associated with freshwater planarians, using 114 new sequences of two mitochondrial (16S rRNA gene and cytochrome c oxidase gene) and five nuclear (18S rRNA gene, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region, D1/D2 domains of 28S rRNA gene) markers. Although the morphological disparity of the isolated trichodinids and urceolariids was low, Bayesian coalescent analyses revealed the existence of five distinct evolutionary lineages/species given the seven molecular markers. The occurrence of mobilids perfectly correlated with their planarian hosts: Trichodina steinii and two Urceolaria mitra-like taxa were associated exclusively with the planarian Dugesia gonocephala, Trichodina polycelis sp. n. with the planarian Polycelis felina, and Trichodina schmidtea sp. n. with the planarian Schmidtea polychroa. Host organisms thus very likely constitute sharply isolated niches that might permit speciation of their epibiotic ciliates, even though no distinct morphological features appear to be recognizable among ciliates originating from different hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matej Rataj
- Department of Zoology, Comenius University in Bratislava, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Peter Vd'ačný
- Department of Zoology, Comenius University in Bratislava, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
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Käse L, Metfies K, Neuhaus S, Boersma M, Wiltshire KH, Kraberg AC. Host-parasitoid associations in marine planktonic time series: Can metabarcoding help reveal them? PLoS One 2021; 16:e0244817. [PMID: 33411833 PMCID: PMC7790432 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we created a dataset of a continuous three-year 18S metabarcoding survey to identify eukaryotic parasitoids, and potential connections to hosts at the Long-Term Ecological Research station Helgoland Roads. The importance of parasites and parasitoids for food web dynamics has previously been recognized mostly in terrestrial and freshwater systems, while marine planktonic parasitoids have been understudied in comparison to those. Therefore, the occurrence and role of parasites and parasitoids remains mostly unconsidered in the marine environment. We observed high abundances and diversity of parasitoid operational taxonomic units in our dataset all year round. While some parasitoid groups were present throughout the year and merely fluctuated in abundances, we also detected a succession of parasitoid groups with peaks of individual species only during certain seasons. Using co-occurrence and patterns of seasonal occurrence, we were able to identify known host-parasitoid dynamics, however identification of new potential host-parasitoid interactions was not possible due to their high dynamics and variability in the dataset.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Käse
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
| | - Katja Metfies
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany
- Helmholtz-Institut für Funktionelle Marine Biodiversität, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Stefan Neuhaus
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany
| | - Maarten Boersma
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
- University of Bremen, Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Karen Helen Wiltshire
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Wadden Sea Station, List auf Sylt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
| | - Alexandra Claudia Kraberg
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany
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Breitbart M, Benner BE, Jernigan PE, Rosario K, Birsa LM, Harbeitner RC, Fulford S, Graham C, Walters A, Goldsmith DB, Berger SA, Nejstgaard JC. Discovery, Prevalence, and Persistence of Novel Circular Single-Stranded DNA Viruses in the Ctenophores Mnemiopsis leidyi and Beroe ovata. Front Microbiol 2015; 6:1427. [PMID: 26733971 PMCID: PMC4683175 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2015] [Accepted: 11/30/2015] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Gelatinous zooplankton, such as ctenophores and jellyfish, are important components of marine and brackish ecosystems and play critical roles in aquatic biogeochemistry. As voracious predators of plankton, ctenophores have key positions in aquatic food webs and are often successful invaders when introduced to new areas. Gelatinous zooplankton have strong impacts on ecosystem services, particularly in coastal environments. However, little is known about the factors responsible for regulating population dynamics of gelatinous organisms, including biological interactions that may contribute to bloom demise. Ctenophores are known to contain specific bacterial communities and a variety of invertebrate parasites and symbionts; however, no previous studies have examined the presence of viruses in these organisms. Building upon recent studies demonstrating a diversity of single-stranded DNA viruses that encode a replication initiator protein (Rep) in aquatic invertebrates, this study explored the presence of circular, Rep-encoding single-stranded DNA (CRESS-DNA) viruses in the ctenophores Mnemiopsis leidyi and Beroe ovata collected from the Skidaway River Estuary and Savannah River in Georgia, USA. Using rolling circle amplification followed by restriction enzyme digestion, this study provides the first evidence of viruses in ctenophores. Investigation of four CRESS-DNA viruses over an 8-month period using PCR demonstrated temporal trends in viral prevalence and indicated that some of the viruses may persist in ctenophore populations throughout the year. Although future work needs to examine the ecological roles of these ctenophore-associated viruses, this study indicates that viral infection may play a role in population dynamics of gelatinous zooplankton.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mya Breitbart
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Bayleigh E Benner
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Parker E Jernigan
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Karyna Rosario
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Laura M Birsa
- Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia Savannah, GA, USA
| | - Rachel C Harbeitner
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Sidney Fulford
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Carina Graham
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Anna Walters
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Dawn B Goldsmith
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Stella A Berger
- Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of GeorgiaSavannah, GA, USA; Department III, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)Stechlin, Germany
| | - Jens C Nejstgaard
- Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of GeorgiaSavannah, GA, USA; Department III, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)Stechlin, Germany
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Hammann S, Moss A, Zimmer M. Sterile Surfaces of <i>Mnemiopsis leidyi</i> (Ctenophora) in Bacterial Suspension—A Key to Invasion Success? ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.4236/ojms.2015.52019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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