Dominant Ocean Life Forms Revealed by CSIC Study

Bioluminescence is a characteristic of Dinoflagellates, Protist and Plankton allow night views in ocean and coast.

The most important primary producers of the Oceans which are in turn among the smallest organisms of the Earth are the focus of a new study of CSIC Spain. With under 0.1 mm in size these organisms when grouped together combine one of the most impressive biomass of the World.

The Kingdom of Protists rule the Ocean´s primary production biological trophic chains. These are all eukaryote organisms which cannot be classified as Fungi, Animals nor Plants. The Kingdom includes; plankton, phytoplankton, nanoplancton, diatoms, dinoflagellates (known for their bioluminescence), coccolithophores, silicioflagelados, and others such as organisms zooplankton.

The Superior Council of Scientific Investigations of CSIC of Spain reported on the last days of May on a new study which has studied unicellular organisms. CSIS assures to have obtained information on the organization of their communities as well as information on their metabolic activity. The work was published in the scientific magazine Current Biology.

“Microbes are the dominant life form of the oceans and perform a fundamental role in the functioning and the biochemical process of the ecosystems, locally as well as globally. However, knowledge on their diversity and the structure of their communities is limited and among these marine Protists are specially unknown,” CSIC stated.

The Paper titled "Patterns of Rare and Abundant Marine Microbial Eukaryotes" authored by Ramiro Logares of the Institute of Marine Sciences, CSIC took to investigating "abundant and rare subcommunities of marine microbial eukaryotes, a crucial group of organisms that remains among the least-explored biodiversity components of the biosphere".

The work surveyed surface waters of six separate coastal locations in Europe...considering the picoplankton, nanoplankton, and microplankton/mesoplankton organismal size fractions. Using Deep Illumina sequencins of the 18S rRNA the study revealed "abundant and rare subcommunities present in regular proportions across samples, indicating similar species-abundance distributions despite taxonomic compositional variation".

Large groups of plankton can be spotted during the day and during the night from space due to their colossal sizes. These organisms can also be used as key species as some proliferate in waters rich in nutrients while others strive in waters depleted of nutrients. Sensible to temperatures, elements presence in the chemistry of water and even contamination the organisms play a fundamental role in the balance of the health of the oceans. Some of these small creatures just float around in the currents while others despite their incredible small size are empowered with specialized anatomy which allow for their mobilization. Interestingly enough the group is “self-sustainable” as some organisms are photosynthetic and others prey and decompose on the first group.

Coccolithophores can be specially highlighted for their ability to create their own calcium carbonate structure which it uses to protect its inner cell. The skeletons usually submerge in the depths once the organism dies contributing to the cycle of calcium carbonate. The same element is utilized by coral polyps to form the complex coral reef structures. Large amounts of calcium carbonate are found in determined areas of the ocean depths due to the activity of these fascinating organisms.

CSIS assures that the study is the first study which investigates in depths the rare biosphere of marine Protists, considering their distribution patters as well as the evolution development as a group –phylogeny.

“To understand the less abundant Protists can be of great importance in understanding the strength of the ecosystems in face of environmental changes, as these species are less frequent and could replace others more abundant after an environmental change, to keep the ecosystem functioning,” CSIS stated.

CSIS urges for future studies on these groups to determine patterns between organisms in coast and global ocean patterns.

Ocean Life News in Brief

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