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The Diatom World pp 437–464Cite as

Diatoms as Endosymbionts

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Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 19))

Abstract

Diatoms, or their plastids, are symbionts of four different families of foraminifera. Evidence suggests that the evolution of these families was driven by their symbiotic relationships. All hosts are many times larger than their ancestors, have complex subcompartmentalization, and have multiple nuclei and internal organelles (e.g., Golgi, mitochondria). The diatom symbionts and the captured plastids are photosynthetically active. Symbiotic diatoms have a 104 kDa glycoprotein epitope on their surfaces that is recognized by receptors on the host’s reticulopodia. Less than two dozen species of diatoms are involved in the phenomenon. All are small (≤10 μm). Nitzschia frustulum var. symbiotica is the most common species. This species along with two other species of Nitzschia, N. laevis Hustedt and N. panduriformis var. continua Grunow in Cleve and Grunow, Nanofrustulum shiloi (Lee, Reimer, and McEnery), Amphora roettgerii Lee and Reimer, and Amphora erezii Reimer and Lee, were isolated from over 75% of the associations. Several diatom species have unusual mechanisms for size regeneration. Host homogenate experiments suggest that there are signals that cause the symbiotic diatoms not to form frustules and to release their photosynthetates. Benefits to the holobiont and to each symbiont are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Research over the years was supported by grants from the NSF, NIH, BSF, and PSC-CUNY. Many people have organized students or have themselves collected specimens for research including: Amatzia Gennin, Pamela Hallock, Arik Diamont, Angelo Colorni, Jonathan Erez, Beverly Goodman, and Beno ter Kuile. Among the many students and colleagues who have been involved in various phases of the work, particular mention should be made of the major contributions of Drs. Charles W. Reimer, Walter Faber, Pamela Hallock, Maria Correia, Jianyuan Chai, Zeev Reiss, Moshe Shilo, Megan Cervasco, and Jorge Morales.

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    John J. Lee

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Lee, J.J. (2011). Diatoms as Endosymbionts. In: Seckbach, J., Kociolek, P. (eds) The Diatom World. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 19. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1327-7_20

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