Increasing evidence for the important role of Labyrinthulomycetes in marine ecosystems
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Abstract
This review summarizes increasing evidence for the role of Labyrinthulomycetes in marine ecosystems gathered over the last six decades. It focuses on their diversity, habitats, biomass, productivity and overall role in food webs and remineralization. Earlier studies contributed enormously to the cultured diversity of Labyrinthulomycetes. In recent years, their uncultured diversity has been demonstrated in exotic environments like the deep sea and anoxic waters. These findings emphasize the need for novel culture methods to grow these organisms. Many species seem to be substrate-specific in their occurrence. Their commensalistic or mutualistic occurrence in marine invertebrates deserves attention. The biomass of Labyrinthulomycetes in the water column may often match or even exceed that of bacteria, although such occurrences seem to be seasonal. There is a major knowledge gap on their productivity and turnover in the water column. The high biomass and production of several degradative enzymes indicate their importance as remineralizers in the ocean. However, the mechanisms by which they overcome bacterial competition are not clear. It is likely that they occupy special habitats, such as marine aggregates. One role of the Labyrinthulomycetes suggested in this review, based on preliminary experiments, is that of “left-over scavenging”, following bacterial growth.
©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Publisher's note
- Publisher's note
- Review
- Increasing evidence for the important role of Labyrinthulomycetes in marine ecosystems
- Research articles
- Temporal variations in morphology and biomass of vulnerable Halodule wrightii meadows at their southernmost distribution limit in the southwestern Atlantic
- The introduced seaweed Grateloupia turuturu (Rhodophyta, Halymeniales) in two Mediterranean transitional water systems
- Sexual structures in Ptilothamnion sphaericum and Pterosiphonia complanata (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula
- Metapeyssonnelia milleporoides, a new species of coral-killing red alga (Peyssonneliaceae) from Puerto Rico, Caribbean Sea
- Checklist of the Pacific marine macroalgae of Central America
- A novel low temperature chitinase from the marine fungus Plectosphaerella sp. strain MF-1
- Diversity and dominance of fungi inhabiting the sabkha area in Kuwait
- Cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities of Malaysian marine endophytic fungi
- Short communications
- First records of Posidonia oceanica flowering at its westernmost distributional limit (Málaga, Alboran Sea)
- Vivipary in Alternanthera littoralis var. maritima – first record for the Amaranthaceae
- Book review
- Sri Lankan seaweeds: methodologies and field guide to the dominant species
Articles in the same Issue
- Publisher's note
- Publisher's note
- Review
- Increasing evidence for the important role of Labyrinthulomycetes in marine ecosystems
- Research articles
- Temporal variations in morphology and biomass of vulnerable Halodule wrightii meadows at their southernmost distribution limit in the southwestern Atlantic
- The introduced seaweed Grateloupia turuturu (Rhodophyta, Halymeniales) in two Mediterranean transitional water systems
- Sexual structures in Ptilothamnion sphaericum and Pterosiphonia complanata (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula
- Metapeyssonnelia milleporoides, a new species of coral-killing red alga (Peyssonneliaceae) from Puerto Rico, Caribbean Sea
- Checklist of the Pacific marine macroalgae of Central America
- A novel low temperature chitinase from the marine fungus Plectosphaerella sp. strain MF-1
- Diversity and dominance of fungi inhabiting the sabkha area in Kuwait
- Cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities of Malaysian marine endophytic fungi
- Short communications
- First records of Posidonia oceanica flowering at its westernmost distributional limit (Málaga, Alboran Sea)
- Vivipary in Alternanthera littoralis var. maritima – first record for the Amaranthaceae
- Book review
- Sri Lankan seaweeds: methodologies and field guide to the dominant species
