Protistology • 14 (3), 178–185 (2020) |
Induced phagotrophy in the mixotrophic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum cordatum: exploring the role of cytoskeleton in prey ingestion |
Mariia Berdieva, Alena Fel, Vera Kalinina, Sergei Skarlato and Olga Matantseva Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 194064, Russia | Submitted September 9, 2020 | Accepted September 29, 2020 | Summary The bloom-forming marine planktonic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum cordatum (syn. Prorocentrum minimum) is well known as a mixotrophic species; however, unraveling the cellular and molecular mechanisms of phagotrophy in this organism is still on the way. We focused on exploring the contribution of the cytoskeletal proteins to phagotrophy in P. cordatum. The drugs affecting cytoskeleton arrangement and functioning – cytochalasin D and nocodazole – were applied in the study. We tested the effect of pharmacological treatments on the frequency of ingestion of the prey cryptophyte Teleaulax amphioxeia by the grazer P. cordatum. Incubation with drugs resulted in a decrease in the fraction of dinoflagellate cells containing food vacuoles. The role of different cellular structures in the phagotrophy of prorocentroid dinoflagellates is discussed.
Key words: cytoskeleton, dinoflagellates, mixotrophy, phagotrophy, Prorocentrum cordatum, Teleaulax amphioxeia
Address for correspondence: Mariia Berdieva. Laboratory of Cytology of Unicellular Organisms, Institute of Cytology RAS, Tikhoretsky ave. 4, 194064 St. Petersburg, Russia; e-mail: maria.berd4@yandex.ru |
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