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Coral-Associated Heterotrophic Protists

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Abstract

Protists are microscopic eukaryotic microorganisms that are ubiquitous, diverse, and major participants in oceanic food webs and in marine biogeochemical cycles. A survey of protist abundance in waters of coral reef environments was determined to be between 3.5·103 and 7.9·103 protists ml−1. Recent studies showed that live corals harbor Stramenopile protists in and on their tissues. Analyses of large polyped coral species from the Gulf of Eilat (Northern Red Sea) and the Great Barrier Reef revealed numerous colonies with distinct white coatings covering their surface. Upon closer examination, this coating was found to be made up of numerous morphologically distinct microorganisms, containing a nucleus, mitochondria, and golgi complexes. These microorganisms were then characterized using molecular methods and identified as stramenopile protists belonging to the order Labyrinthulida (Kramarsky-Winter et al., 2006); family Thraustochytriidae. Thraustochytrids are a ubiquitous group of microorganisms found in association with marine invertebrates from sponges to echinoderms. One of the distinctive characters of this group is that almost all species develop ectoplasmic extensions from one or more points on the cell and form branched networks. These ectoplasmic nets provide mobility and contain hydrolytic enzymes that are surface-bound or are secreted into the surrounding medium, helping in the digestion of organic material. In addition, members of this group of organisms are known to produce polyunsaturated fatty acids. Therefore, the presence of these microorganisms on the surface of massive and solitary coral species during bleaching events may explain why these corals survive bleaching better than branched species.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by ISF Grant number 1169/07. The authors also thank the Inter-University Institute in Eilat for use of their facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 653, Be’er-Sheva, 84105, Israel

    L. Arotsker & A. Kushmaro

  2. Department of Zoology and the Porter Super Center for Ecological and Environmental Studies, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel

    E. Kramarsky-Winter

  3. National Institute of Biotechnology in the Negev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 653, Be’er-Sheva, 84105, Israel

    A. Kushmaro

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  1. L. Arotsker
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  2. E. Kramarsky-Winter
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  3. A. Kushmaro
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Correspondence to A. Kushmaro .

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  1. , Dept. of Molecular Microbiology and Biot, University of Tel Aviv, Ramat Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Eugene Rosenberg

  2. , Dept. of Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Tel Aviv, Ramat Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Uri Gophna

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Arotsker, L., Kramarsky-Winter, E., Kushmaro, A. (2012). Coral-Associated Heterotrophic Protists. In: Rosenberg, E., Gophna, U. (eds) Beneficial Microorganisms in Multicellular Life Forms. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21680-0_10

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