Global rise of symbiotic plankton - an international network to investigate a growing threat to marine fisheries

共生浮游生物的全球崛起 - 调查海洋渔业日益增长的威胁的国际网络

• 批准号: NE/W004461/1
• 负责人: Aditee Mitra
• 金额: $ 10.63万
• 依托单位: CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FW004461%2F1
• 关键词: Global; rise; symbiotic; plankton; international

Life on Earth is heavily dependent on microscopic plankton that live in our oceans. These microscopic plankton can be divided between 3 types:(1) phytoplankton: microscopic "plants" that make food and oxygen through photosynthesis by using carbon dioxide and energy from the sun(2) protozooplankton: microscopic "animals" that eat the phytoplankton and are in turn food for small fish(3) mixoplankton: microbes that combine "plant+animal", photosynthesising (making food and releasing oxygen) as well as eating preyIn this project we are going to explore the "lifestyle" of the plankton Noctiluca, commonly called "sea sparkle" as they can form bioluminescent blooms. Noctiluca are single-celled and 1 mm in diameter. As a globally distributed cosmopolitan microbe occurring along the coasts of all the continents (except Antarctica) they exist as an "animal" (protozooplankton), called red-Noctiluca because of their colouration. However, another form is becoming dominant in Asian waters; this is a "plant+animal" (mixoplankton) form, referred to as green-Noctiluca because it harbours hundreds of cells of a green phytoplankton. Green-Noctiluca still eats but, by capturing and "hosting" colonies of phytoplankton (a process termed symbiosis), they also photosynthesise. Green-Noctiluca is usually found only in the warm tropical waters. But with climate change the green-Noctiluca are spreading. Over the last 20 years there have been regular blooms of green-Noctiluca in the Arabian Sea and also off SE Asia. Unlike red Noctiluca, which starves to death on exhaustion of its food, green Noctiluca blooms persist. As they are not readily eaten, their presence in the oceans blocks the normal food chain to fish. The decline in fish populations and increase in jellyfish, has affected the socio-economics of over 140 million humans who depend on previously highly productive fisheries. Blooms can also block desalination facilities as well as oil refinery water intakes. The concern is that with climate change the green-Noctiluca will start appearing alongside the red-Noctiluca in other areas; it could potentially spread with climate change into European waters, US waters and East China Sea - all areas with important fisheries. The reason why both types of Noctiluca bloom in tropical waters is unknown. Also, not known are the factors that lead to the prevalence of the green-Noctiluca over the red-Noctiluca or vice versa. We propose that the key to this transition must lay with the plant-like phytoplankton (Protoeuglena) which the Noctiluca capture and maintain as symbionts. However, very little is known about these Protoeuglena - where they occur, how do temperature and light affect their growth and, therefore, how will climate change effect their spread in global oceans. In this project we will explore factors affecting the growth of the Protoeuglena cells when they are free-living versus when they are in symbiosis with the green-Noctiluca. We will use state-of-the-art research methodologies developed in the UK, USA and Thailand, bringing together a team of experts with unique but complimentary skills.Outputs from this project, in addition to scientific publications, will include information cards about the fascinating Noctiluca for anyone to freely access and download, videos explaining the physiology of Noctiluca, reports for coastal water monitoring and policy managers. As a seedcorn project, the most important output, however, will be the establishment of an international team of scientists to confront what is a truly international problem. In this UN Decade of the Ocean, this project is a timely effort to understand the factors that govern the spread of Noctiluca and therefore, to develop tools and methodologies to predict future blooms and strive towards healthier and sustainable oceans.

地球上的生命在很大程度上依赖于生活在我们海洋中的微小浮游生物。这些微型浮游生物可以分为3种类型：（1）浮游植物：微型“植物”，通过光合作用利用二氧化碳和太阳能制造食物和氧气（2）原生浮游动物：微型“动物”，吃浮游植物，反过来又是小鱼的食物（3）混合浮游生物：微生物结合联合收割机“植物+动物”，光合作用（制造食物和释放氧气）以及吃猎物在这个项目中，我们将探索浮游生物夜光藻的“生活方式”，通常被称为“海火花”，因为它们可以形成生物发光的花朵。夜光藻为单细胞，直径1毫米。作为一种全球性分布的世界性微生物，它们沿着所有大陆（南极洲除外）的海岸存在，它们作为一种“动物”（原生浮游动物）存在，由于它们的颜色而被称为红色夜光虫。然而，另一种形式正在亚洲沃茨中占主导地位;这是一种“植物+动物”（混合浮游生物）形式，被称为绿色夜光藻，因为它含有数百个绿色浮游植物细胞。绿夜光藻仍然吃，但通过捕获和“托管”浮游植物群体（一个被称为共生的过程），它们也进行光合作用。绿夜光藻通常只在温暖的热带沃茨中发现。但随着气候变化，绿色夜光藻正在蔓延。在过去的20年里，在阿拉伯海和东南亚海域，绿色夜光藻经常开花。红色的夜光藻会在食物耗尽后饿死，而绿色夜光藻的花朵却会持续盛开。由于它们不易被食用，它们在海洋中的存在阻断了鱼类的正常食物链。鱼类数量的减少和水母数量的增加影响了1.4亿多人的社会经济，这些人依赖以前高产的渔业。水华还可能阻塞海水淡化设施以及炼油厂的取水口。令人担忧的是，随着气候变化，绿色夜光藻将开始与红色夜光藻一起出现在其他地区;它可能会随着气候变化蔓延到欧洲沃茨、美国沃茨和中国东海--所有这些地区都有重要的渔业。两种类型的夜光藻在热带沃茨开花的原因尚不清楚。此外，还不知道是什么因素导致绿色夜光藻的流行超过红色夜光藻，反之亦然。我们认为，这一转变的关键必须与夜光藻捕获和维持共生的植物样浮游植物（原裸藻）。然而，人们对这些原裸藻知之甚少--它们在哪里出现，温度和光照如何影响它们的生长，因此，气候变化将如何影响它们在全球海洋中的传播。在这个项目中，我们将探讨影响原裸藻细胞生长的因素，当他们是自由生活与当他们与绿色夜光藻共生。我们将采用在英国、美国和泰国开发的最先进的研究方法，汇集一个拥有独特但互补技能的专家团队。除了科学出版物外，该项目的成果还包括供任何人免费访问和下载的关于迷人的夜光藻的信息卡，解释夜光藻生理学的视频，沿海水域监测和政策管理人员的报告。然而，作为一个种子项目，最重要的成果将是建立一个国际科学家小组，以应对真正的国际问题。在联合国海洋十年中，该项目是一项及时的努力，旨在了解控制夜光藻传播的因素，从而开发工具和方法来预测未来的水华，并努力实现更健康和可持续的海洋。

项目成果

Dynamics of Planktonic Primary Productivity in the Indian Ocean

印度洋浮游初级生产力动态

• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-34467-1_5
• 发表时间: 2023
• 作者: Mitra A

Mucus-Trap-Assisted Feeding Is a Common Strategy of the Small Mixoplanktonic Prorocentrum pervagatum and P. cordatum (Prorocentrales, Dinophyceae).

• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11071730
• 发表时间: 2023-07-01
• 期刊: MICROORGANISMS
• 影响因子: 4.5
• 作者: Tillmann, Urban;Mitra, Aditee;Flynn, Kevin J.;Larsson, Michaela E.
• 通讯作者: Larsson, Michaela E.

The Mixoplankton Database (MDB): Diversity of photo‐phago‐trophic plankton in form, function, and distribution across the global ocean

• DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12972
• 发表时间: 2023-02
• 期刊: Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: Aditee Mitra;David A. Caron;E. Faure;Kevin J. Flynn;Suzana Gonçalves Leles;Per J Hansen;George B McManus;F. Not;Helga do Rosario Gomes;L. Santoferrara;D. Stoecker;U. Tillmann