- Dona Paula, Goa, India.
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| Abstract Submission No. | ABS-2022-05-0430 |
| Title of Abstract | Association of marine fungal-like organisms the thraustochytrids with diatoms |
| Authors | Dr. Varada S. Damare* |
| Organisation | School of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences, Goa University |
| Address | School of Earth,Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences,Goa University goa, goa, India Pincode: 403206 Mobile: 8669609254 E-mail: vdamare@unigoa.ac.in |
| Country | India |
| Presentation | Oral |
| Abstract | Thraustochytrids are obligate marine Stramenopilan protists regarded as fungal-like organisms due to the resemblance of their reproduction to zoosporic fungi and their saprophytic and/or parasitic role in the marine ecosystem similar to fungi. These protists are ubiquitous in the marine environment and are known to be a food source to zooplankton owing to their production of polyunsaturated fatty acids such as w-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are required for the growth and reproduction of zooplankton. Thraustochytrids bear a strange relationship with the primary producers, the diatoms. The diatom cells seem to inhibit thraustochytrid growth but their extracellular polysaccharides favour thraustochytrid growth. Such growth phenomenon is seen in water as well as on marine aggregates. Lipids produced by diatoms during their late stationary phase of growth have been found to inhibit thraustochytrid growth in laboratory conditions. Diatoms are known to express allelopathic effects on other organisms which results in negative effect on the other communities. The negative relationship of thraustochytrids and diatoms is therefore indicative of allelopathy. This explains the weak positive correlation between thraustochytrids and chlorophyll a concentration found in oceanic waters and increase in thraustochytrid numbers after subsidence of diatom bloom. Thus, diatoms exhibit allelopathic interactions with thraustochytrids, the effects that diatoms are known to express against other organisms. |