Predatory dinoflagellate

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Acute pfiesteriosis in tilapia: top = unaffected fish; bottom = fish preyed upon by the carnivorous alga Pfiesteria shumwayae
Acute pfiesteriosis in tilapia: top = unaffected fish; bottom = fish preyed upon by the carnivorous alga Pfiesteria shumwayae

Predatory dinoflagellates are heterotrophic or mixotrophic Alveolates that derive some or most of their nutrients from digesting other organisms. About one half of dinoflagellates lack photosynthetic pigments and specialize in consuming other eukaryotic cells, and even photosynthetic forms are often predatory.[1][2] Organisms that derive their nutrition in this manner include Oxyrrhis marina, which feeds phagocytically on phytoplankton[3], Polykrikos kofoidii, which feeds on several species of red-tide and/or toxic dinoflagellates[4], Ceratium furca, which is primarily photosynthetic but also capable of ingesting other protists such as ciliates[5], Cochlodinium polykrikoides, which feeds on phytoplankton[6], Gambierdiscus toxicus, which feeds on algae and produces a toxin that causes ciguatera fish poisoning when ingested[7], and Pfiesteria and related species such as Luciella masanensis, which feed on diverse prey including fish skin and human blood cells.[8][9] Predatory dinoflagellates can kill their prey by releasing toxins or phagocytize small prey directly.[10]

Some predatory algae have evolved extreme survival strategies. For example, Oxyrrhis marina can turn cannibalistic on its own species when no suitable non-self prey is available[11], and Pfiesteria and related species kill and feed on fish and therefore have been referred to as carnivorous algae by the media.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Doyle, Jeff; Soltis, Douglas E.; Soltis, Pamela S. (1998). Molecular systematics of plants II: DNA sequencing. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0-412-11121-7. 
  2. ^ Bhattacharya, Debashish; Olson, Laura Katz (2006). Genomics and evolution of microbial eukaryotes. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-856974-2. 
  3. ^ Whiteley AS, Burkill PH, Sleigh MA (1993). "Rapid method for cell cycle analysis in a predatory marine dinoflagellate". Cytometry 14 (8): 909–15. doi:10.1002/cyto.990140809. PMID 7507024. 
  4. ^ Jeong HJ, Kim SK, Kim JS, Kim ST, Yoo YD, Yoon JY (2001). "Growth and grazing rates of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Polykrikos kofoidii on red-tide and toxic dinoflagellates". J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 48 (3): 298–308. PMID 11411838. 
  5. ^ Smalley GW, Coats DW (2002). "Ecology of the red-tide dinoflagellate Ceratium furca: distribution, mixotrophy, and grazing impact on ciliate populations of Chesapeake Bay". J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 49 (1): 63–73. PMID 11908900. 
  6. ^ Jeong HJ, Du Yoo Y, Kim JS, et al (2004). "Mixotrophy in the phototrophic harmful alga Cochlodinium polykrikoides (Dinophycean): prey species, the effects of prey concentration, and grazing impact". J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 51 (5): 563–9. PMID 15537091. 
  7. ^ "Ciguatera fish poisoning--Texas, 1998, and South Carolina, 2004" (2006). MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 55 (34): 935–7. PMID 16943762. 
  8. ^ Vogelbein WK, Lovko VJ, Shields JD, et al (2002). "Pfiesteria shumwayae kills fish by micropredation not exotoxin secretion". Nature 418 (6901): 967–70. doi:10.1038/nature01008. PMID 12198545. 
  9. ^ Jeong HJ, Ha JH, Yoo YD, et al (2007). "Feeding by the Pfiesteria-like heterotrophic dinoflagellate Luciella masanensis". J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 54 (3): 231–41. doi:10.1111/j.1550-7408.2007.00259.x. PMID 17552978. 
  10. ^ http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/110427393/ABSTRACT
  11. ^ Martel CM, Flynn KJ (2008). "Morphological controls on cannibalism in a planktonic marine phagotroph". Protist 159 (1): 41–51. doi:10.1016/j.protis.2007.05.003. PMID 17768088.