Choanoflagellates alongside diverse uncultured predatory protists consume the abundant open-ocean cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus.

ABSTRACT: Prochlorococcus is a key member of open-ocean primary producer communities. Despite its importance, little is known about the predators that consume this cyanobacterium and make its biomass available to higher trophic levels. We identify potential predators along a gradient wherein Prochlorococcus abundance increased from near detection limits (coastal California) to >200,000 cells mL^-1 (subtropical North Pacific Gyre). A replicated RNA-Stable Isotope Probing experiment involving the in situ community, and labeled Prochlorococcus as prey, revealed choanoflagellates as the most active predators of Prochlorococcus, alongside a radiolarian, chrysophytes, dictyochophytes, and specific MAST lineages. These predators were not appropriately highlighted in mu

SUBMITTER: Wilken S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10318953 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature