Sulfide assimilation by ectosymbionts of the sessile ciliate, Zoothamnium niveum.

ABSTRACT: We investigated the constraints on sulfide uptake by bacterial ectosymbionts on the marine peritrich ciliate Zoothamnium niveum by a combination of experimental and numerical methods. Protists with symbionts were collected on large blocks of mangrove-peat. The blocks were placed in a flow cell with flow adjusted to in situ velocity. The water motion around the colonies was then characterized by particle tracking velocimetry. This shows that the feather-shaped colony of Z. niveum generates a unidirectional flow of seawater through the colony with no recirculation. The source of the feeding current was the free-flowing water although the size of the colonies suggests that they live partly submerged in the diffusive boundary layer. We showed that the filtered volume allows Z.

SUBMITTER: Roy H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7477830 | biostudies-literature | 2009

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature