Marine aggregates and transparent exopolymeric particles (TEPs) as substrates for the stramenopilan fungi, the thraustochytrids: Roller table experimental approach.
Abstract
In order to understand the kind of organic substrates utilized by thraustochytrids in the coastal water column, their growth in the presence of Transparent Exopolymeric Substances (TEPS) and aggregates generated in roller table experiments was studied. Thraustochytrids appeared to be inhibited in the presence of microphytoplankton. However, they grew well on diatom polysaccharides in the absence of living diatom cells, but not in the presence of bacterial polysaccharides. TEPs formed in the presence of only nanoplankton and bacteria in the water column were highly favourable for the growth of thraustochytrids. The relationship between bacteria and thraustochytrids varied in the experiments. Aggregates formed in water, stimulated by an initial addition of antibiotics, were extremely favourable for the growth of not only thraustochytrids, but also mycelial fungi. This study demonstrates that thraustochytrids could multiply on TEPs and aggregates formed in situ in seawater, even in the absence of additional nutrients.
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