Project: Collaborative Research: Role of small-sized protists in the microbial loop with emphasis on interactions between mixotrophic protists and picocyanobacteria

This project is an NSF Collaborative Research Project.

Description from NSF award abstract:
Protists are mostly single-celled, eukaryotic microorganisms, including algae and protozoans. They are ubiquitous, diverse, and major contributors in oceanic food webs. Determining their taxonomic identity and the extent to which they contribute to carbon and nutrient cycles (whereby carbon and minerals are continuously changed chemically in the environment and reincorporated in living organisms) are among the major goals of this study. Moreover, the investigators will study how they respond to environmental change, one of the most important and challenging current problems in oceanography. Answering these questions is fundamental to understanding how living organisms in the ocean environment interact with one another and contribute to the health and productivity of the ocean. The main goal of the project is to investigate biotic interactions of small-sized protists with very tiny cyanobacteria also known as picocyanobacteria, which represent the most abundant photosynthetic organisms in the ocean. These studies will be done both in ocean environments and in laboratory experimental settings. Considering the limited knowledge on this topic, the work planned in this project promises important and exciting discoveries. Two early career female scientists will lead this project. In addition, one postdoctoral scholar, one graduate student, and at least three undergraduate summer interns will participate in the proposed research activities. The principal investigators will create a strong public outreach program that will engage middle school students in hands-on activities related to ocean sciences, and will produce a video in collaboration with the Education Department at the American Museum of Natural History. The video will summarize the major findings of the proposed research. It can be used in schools and in informal learning settings, including access by the public on the Internet through the Museum's Science Bulletins web page.

Single-celled eukaryotic microorganisms or protists, though largely outnumbered by picocyanobacteria (Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus), contribute significantly to ocean carbon biomass and primary productivity, partially by virtue of their larger cell size. In addition, small planktonic protists can regulate picocyanobacteria abundance through grazing. The main goal of this project is to investigate biotic interactions of planktonic pico- and nano-sized eukaryotes with picocyanobacteria, both in the field and in laboratory settings. A set of field- and culture-based experiments will be conducted, using state-of-the-art methodologies, including fluorescence-activated cell sorting, isotope and fluorescent stain labeling, and next-generation molecular sequencing to address the research objectives.

Operationally, this project is structured around two objectives:

Objective 1 is to assess the contribution of small protists to carbon and nutrient cycling through measurement of primary production, bacterivory, mixotrophy and phosphorus uptake in major microbial groups, and evaluate the role of nutrient availability in controlling mixotrophy.

Objective 2 will focus on assessing the distribution and diversity of small-sized protists that feed on picocyanobacteria and further evaluate the role of nutrient availability among the protists that are mixotrophic.

To reach these objectives field-based experiments will be conducted in contrasted environments: the North Pacific subtropical gyre (phosphorus replete, dominated by Prochlorococcus at Sta. ALOHA) and the North West Mediterranean sea (phosphorus deplete, dominated by Synechococcus at Sta. DYFAMED). Complementary experiments using model protists and picocyanobacteria will be conducted using controlled cultures in the lab. The work will provide critical new information on the phylogenetic diversity and function of marine microbial eukaryotes, with emphasis on their ecological role as predators (phagotrophy, mixotrophy) on, and competitors with, the picoyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus.