A novel symbiosis between a cyanobacterium, Synechococcus sp., an aplastidic protist, Solenicola setigera, and a diatom, Leptocylindrus mediterraneus, in the open ocean |
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Authors: | K R Buck W N Bentham |
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Institution: | (1) Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, P.O. Box 628, Moss Landing, California 95039, USA Fax: +(0) 831 775 1645, US;(2) University of California, Electron Microscope Laboratory, 26 Giannini Hall, Berkeley, California 94720-3330, USA, US |
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Abstract: | The abundance, biomass and distribution of Solenicola setigera, a colonial heterotrophic protist found only with the centric chain-forming diatom Leptocylindusmediterraneus, are reported for four major ocean basins. The distribution is cosmopolitan, and abundances and biomass are usually low (<500 colonies l−1); however, in the summer of 1993, we observed a major biomass component (range = 5 to 31 μg C l−1) in the surface waters of the North Atlantic attributable to S. setigera. These colonies of S. setigera were exceptionally large, and unusual in possessing high abundances of Synechococcus sp., a normally solitary cyanobacterium, embedded in the matrix covering the cells. We hypothesize that this relationship
was mutually beneficial for both Solenicola setigera and Synechococcus sp.
Received: 5 January 1998 / Accepted: 22 May 1998 |
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