Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (4)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Stabell, T.
Right arrow Articles by Klaveness, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Stabell, T.
Right arrow Articles by Klaveness, D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Plankton Research Vol.24 no.9 pp.889-899, 2002
© Oxford University Press 2002

Ecological significance of endosymbionts in a mixotrophic ciliate—an experimental test of a simple model of growth coordination between host and symbiont

Trond Stabell, Tom Andersen1 and Dag Klaveness*

University of Oslo, Department of Biology, PO Box 1027, Blindern, N-0315 Oslo, and 1 Norwegian Institute for Water Research (niva), Brekkeveien 19, PO Box 173, Kjelsaas, N-0411 Oslo, Norway

* Corresponding Author: dag.klaveness{at}bio.uio.no

Ciliates with endosymbiotic algae (green ciliates) have often been found to be more viable than aposymbiotic (without endosymbionts) counterparts during periods of starvation. However, the possible benefit of algal endosymbionts to the growth of ciliate hosts has rarely been quantified. Growth coordination between host and symbionts is essential to maintain the symbiosis, but the mechanism behind this is also uncertain. Our hypothesis is that the growth rate of the symbionts is always close to its maximum, irrespective of the nutritional status of the host. To test this hypothesis we built a model based on a constant symbiont growth rate, and performed an experiment where we observed the growth rate of aposymbiotic and green Coleps cells under different light conditions and food concentrations. The results were in good agreement with the model, and showed that at low food concentration the growth rate of green Coleps was clearly higher than that of aposymbiotic Coleps, while there were no significant differences when food was abundant. Our results indicate that algal gross growth rate is always close to maximum, and that growth coordination between host and symbiont is obtained by a variable degree of leakage of photosynthetic products from the symbionts to the ciliate host.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.