Control of toxic marine dinoflagellate blooms by serial parasitic killers.
The marine dinoflagellates commonly responsible for toxic red tides are parasitized by other dinoflagellate species. Using culture-independent environmental ribosomal RNA sequences and fluorescence markers, we identified host-specific infections among several species. Each parasitoid produces 60 to 400 offspring, leading to extraordinarily rapid control of the host's population. During 3 consecutive years of observation in a natural estuary, all dinoflagellates observed were chronically infected, and a given host species was infected by a single genetically distinct parasite year after year. Our observations in natural ecosystems suggest that although bloom-forming dinoflagellates may escape control by grazing organisms, they eventually succumb to parasite attack.
Chambouvet
Aurelie
A
Station Biologique, CNRS, UMR 7144, Place Georges Teissier, 29682 Roscoff Cedex, France; and Laboratoire Adaptation et Diversité en Milieu Marin, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6, Paris, France.
Morin
Pascal
P
Marie
Dominique
D
Guillou
Laure
L
D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D044822:Biodiversity; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000502:physiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D008387:Marine Toxins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010572:Pest Control, Biological
D008387:Marine Toxins