About Pigmented Nanoflagellates and the Importance of Mixotrophy in a Coastal Upwelling System

Mixotrophy, understood as food ingestion and photosynthesis occurring in the same organism, is a nutrition mode relatively common in marine protists. Among these, pigmented nanoflagellates 2-20 µm in size (PNF) are now known to be responsible for a significant part of consumption of bacteria in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in Marine Science 2020-03, Vol.7
Main Authors: Figueiras, Francisco G., Arbones, Belén, Castro, Carmen G., Froján, María, Teixeira, Isabel G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autotrophy
Biogeochemistry
Biomass
Carbon
Chlorophyll
Coastal upwelling
coastal upwelling systems
Ecosystems
fluorescence
Food webs
growth and turnover rates
Heterotrophy
Ingestion
Microorganisms
Mixotrophy
Nutrients
Nutrition
NW Iberia
Ocean circulation
Photosynthesis
pigmented nanoflagellates
Plankton
Protists
Upwelling
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Summary:Mixotrophy, understood as food ingestion and photosynthesis occurring in the same organism, is a nutrition mode relatively common in marine protists. Among these, pigmented nanoflagellates 2-20 µm in size (PNF) are now known to be responsible for a significant part of consumption of bacteria in the open ocean. However, knowledge about the importance of the mixotrophic nutrition of these organisms in coastal upwelling systems, where autotrophy prevails, is very limited. Here we compile the limited available information about mixotrophy of PNF in coastal upwelling systems, focusing on the NW Iberian upwelling, to show that this type of nutrition is relevant in these productive systems and to urge for further studies. Several indirect approaches allow inferring that mixotrophy was significant for PNF in the NW Iberian upwelling, with heterotrophy supplying seventy-five percent of the total carbon requirements in this plankton group. This new insight has major implications for our view of marine food webs in coastal upwelling regions, and must be taken into account in the construction of more accurate biogeochemical models of the transfer of matter and energy in these marine areas.
ISSN:2296-7745
2296-7745
DOI:10.3389/fmars.2020.00144