Anaerobic breviate protist survival in microcosms depends on microbiome metabolic function.

ABSTRACT: Anoxic and hypoxic environments serve as habitats for diverse microorganisms, including unicellular eukaryotes (protists) and prokaryotes. To thrive in low-oxygen environments, protists and prokaryotes often establish specialized metabolic cross-feeding associations, such as syntrophy, with other microorganisms. Previous studies show that the breviate protist Lenisia limosa engages in a mutualistic association with a denitrifying Arcobacter bacterium based on hydrogen exchange. Here, we investigate if the ability to form metabolic interactions is conserved in other breviates by studying five diverse breviate microcosms and their associated bacteria. We show that five laboratory microcosms of marine breviates live with multiple hydrogen-consuming prokaryotes that are predicted to have diffe

SUBMITTER: Aguilera-Campos KI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12453579 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature