Buried alive – germination of up to a century-old marine protist resting stages

TY - JOUR

T1 - Buried alive – germination of up to a century-old marine protist resting stages

AU - Lundholm, Nina

AU - dos Santos Ribeiro, Sofia Isabel

AU - Andersen, Thorbjørn Joest

AU - Koch, Trine Annette

AU - Godhe, Anna

AU - Ekelund, Flemming

AU - Ellegaard, Marianne

PY - 2011/11/10

Y1 - 2011/11/10

N2 - report on the survival and germination of up to a century-old marine protist resting stages naturally preserved insediments from Koljö Fjord on the west coast of Sweden. This work has focused on germination of dinoflagellate cysts,but diatom resting stages were also observed. We record the longest known survival of dormant dinoflagellate cells. Weindividually isolated more than 1200 cysts of the three most abundant dinoflagellate taxa: Pentapharsodinium dalei,Lingulodinium polyedrum and Scrippsiella spp. Germination success decreased with core depth, and all successfulgerminations took place within the first 2 wk of incubation. Pentapharsodinium dalei had the highest germination successrate, with a maximum of up to 80% in 28-yr-old sediment, and could successfully germinate from core sediments datedto 1920 ± 12. Scrippsiella spp. cysts with cell contents occurred down to c. 90-yr-old sediment and could germinate fromdown to ca. 40-yr-old sediments, with a maximum germination rate of 50-60% in recent sediments. Cysts of L.polyedrum germinated frequently down to 20 yr and rarely to c. 80 yr, with a maximum of 20-50% germination successin recent sediments. Cyst isolation under cooled conditions rather than at room temperature resulted in a significantlyhigher germination success in P. dalei, while no effect was observed for L. polyedrum. The time elapsed since slicing ofthe core affected survival of L. polyedrum cysts negatively, most likely due to the effect of oxygen. The long-termsurvival potential of benthic resting stages that we report here has important implications, as viable resting stagesaccumulated in bottom sediments can be transported back to the water column by, for example, bioturbation andhuman-mediated sediment dredging. Hence, the sediment may to a higher degree than previously considered play a roleas seed bank. This is important in a changing climate and might have particularly severe impacts in the case of harmful species.

AB - report on the survival and germination of up to a century-old marine protist resting stages naturally preserved insediments from Koljö Fjord on the west coast of Sweden. This work has focused on germination of dinoflagellate cysts,but diatom resting stages were also observed. We record the longest known survival of dormant dinoflagellate cells. Weindividually isolated more than 1200 cysts of the three most abundant dinoflagellate taxa: Pentapharsodinium dalei,Lingulodinium polyedrum and Scrippsiella spp. Germination success decreased with core depth, and all successfulgerminations took place within the first 2 wk of incubation. Pentapharsodinium dalei had the highest germination successrate, with a maximum of up to 80% in 28-yr-old sediment, and could successfully germinate from core sediments datedto 1920 ± 12. Scrippsiella spp. cysts with cell contents occurred down to c. 90-yr-old sediment and could germinate fromdown to ca. 40-yr-old sediments, with a maximum germination rate of 50-60% in recent sediments. Cysts of L.polyedrum germinated frequently down to 20 yr and rarely to c. 80 yr, with a maximum of 20-50% germination successin recent sediments. Cyst isolation under cooled conditions rather than at room temperature resulted in a significantlyhigher germination success in P. dalei, while no effect was observed for L. polyedrum. The time elapsed since slicing ofthe core affected survival of L. polyedrum cysts negatively, most likely due to the effect of oxygen. The long-termsurvival potential of benthic resting stages that we report here has important implications, as viable resting stagesaccumulated in bottom sediments can be transported back to the water column by, for example, bioturbation andhuman-mediated sediment dredging. Hence, the sediment may to a higher degree than previously considered play a roleas seed bank. This is important in a changing climate and might have particularly severe impacts in the case of harmful species.

U2 - 10.2216/11-16.1

DO - 10.2216/11-16.1

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0031-8884

VL - 50

SP - 629

EP - 640

JO - Phycologia

JF - Phycologia

IS - 6

ER -