Temperature Affects the Biological Control of Dinoflagellates by the Generalist Parasitoid Parvilucifera rostrata.

ABSTRACT: The increase in emerging harmful algal blooms in the last decades has led to an extensive concern in understanding the mechanisms behind these events. In this paper, we assessed the growth of two blooming dinoflagellates (Alexandrium minutum and Heterocapsa triquetra) and their susceptibility to infection by the generalist parasitoid Parvilucifera rostrata under a temperature gradient. The growth of the two dinoflagellates differed across a range of temperatures representative of the Penzé Estuary (13 to 22 °C) in early summer. A. minutum growth increased across this range and was the highest at 19 and 22 °C, whereas H. triquetra growth was maximal at intermediate temperatures (15-18 °C). Interestingly, the effect of temperature on the parasitoid infectivity changed depending on which host

SUBMITTER: Schmitt M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8874431 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature