Trophic strategies explain the ocean niches of small eukaryotic phytoplankton.

ABSTRACT: A large fraction of marine primary production is performed by diverse small protists, and many of these phytoplankton are phagotrophic mixotrophs that vary widely in their capacity to consume bacterial prey. Prior analyses suggest that mixotrophic protists as a group vary in importance across ocean environments, but the mechanisms leading to broad functional diversity among mixotrophs, and the biogeochemical consequences of this, are less clear. Here we use isolates from seven major taxa to demonstrate a tradeoff between phototrophic performance (growth in the absence of prey) and phagotrophic performance (clearance rate when consuming Prochlorococcus). We then show that trophic strategy along the autotrophy-mixotrophy spectrum correlates strongly with global niche differences, acro

SUBMITTER: Edwards KF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9874276 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature