{"id":126,"date":"2016-05-26T08:52:23","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T15:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/?p=126"},"modified":"2016-06-01T11:04:14","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T18:04:14","slug":"protoperidinium-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/protoperidinium-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Protoperidinium"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: center\">the genus: Protoperidinium<br \/><!--more--><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">First discovered in 1841, with the most recent species identified in 2015,\u00a0<em>Protoperidinium<\/em> species continue to be added to the Dinophyta phylum. <em>Protoperidinium<\/em>\u00a0are dinoflagellates; this means they are unicellular organisms with a cell wall. While there are numerous\u00a0different species, a similar structure is present\u00a0throughout the genus. Their shapes have been\u00a0been described as globular or\u00a0polygonal. As an\u00a0armored cell, <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> have cellulose plates that form\u00a0their exterior. Their structure often includes apical and antapical horns, and antapical spines. These organisms have two flagella, one is\u00a0wrapped around a groove between the plates, and the other trails freely; both flagella are used for locomotion.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_752\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-752\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-752 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Environment-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-752\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protoperidinium in its environment, under the microscope.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>They\u00a0are\u00a0widespread throughout the oceans, but due to their diet, <em>Protoperidinium <\/em>appear most along the coast. They\u2019re\u00a0heterotrophic, primarily feeding on diatoms, and following diatom blooms. To eat, they feed through extracellular digestion. A pallium, \u201cfeeding veil,\u201d is released during a pseudopodium, and the organism is digested under the veil (Evagelopoulos, 2002). It allows <em>Protoperidnium<\/em>\u00a0to digest prey larger than themselves.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to understand the feeding habits of microorganisms like <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> because of their significance in the food chain. <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> are an important part of the microbial food loop, and increase the efficiency of the food chain by cycling carbon and other nutrients. They\u2019re also one of the only four dinoflagellates known to feed with a pallium (Menden-Deuer, et al. 2005). Furthermore, they role as both predator and prey. Because they can ingest food larger than themselves, they\u2019re competing with and being eaten by larger, multicellular organisms. Therefore when larger organisms eat them, <em>Protoperidinium <\/em>transfer the biomass from primary producers up the food chain.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Protoperidinium\" width=\"676\" height=\"507\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/toi4iaE64Hc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In 2005, an intensive study of three species of <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> revealed their responses to adverse feeding situations. The study isolated <em>Protoperidinium conicum P. depressum, and P. excentricum<\/em> from Puget Sound surface waters. It also investigated their growth and ingestion rates.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers\u00a0found it important to focus on starvation survival because of the frequent fluctuation of phytoplankton population. Low concentrations of phytoplankton can continue for several months, even in regular blooming zones, such as coastal areas (Menden-Deuer, et al. 2005). It was\u00a0concluded that because of this, \u201cthe availability of suitable prey at a high density is uncertain at best and possibly rare\u2026predators may frequently experience low prey or even starvation conditions\u201d (Menden-Deuer, et al. 2005).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_753\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-753\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-753 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Proto_Stipple-300x249.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Proto_Stipple-300x249.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Proto_Stipple-768x638.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Proto_Stipple-1024x851.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Proto_Stipple-945x785.jpg 945w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Proto_Stipple-600x499.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Proto_Stipple.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-753\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stipple illustration of an unknown Protoperidinium species under the microscope, highlighting vague internal organelles.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Previously, the longest survival of a starved dinoflagellate was 30 days. The study found\u00a0<em>Protoperidinium depresum<\/em>\u00a0capable of surviving up to 71 days with an extremely low concentration of diatom prey (Menden-Deuer,\u00a0et al. 2005). Transparency of the <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> was also documented. The color\u00a0<em>Protoperidinium<\/em>\u00a0is determined by it&#8217;s diet, so the observed transparency could have been the result of a lack of nutrients, but it&#8217;s also hypothesized that this condition is due to the organism metabolizing its own cell content. The capability of surviving with severely limited prey gives <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> species an advantage and could help explain why, during certain times of the year, their population is more dominant than other microzooplankton. The study\u2019s \u201cresults show that <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> species can indeed survive prolonged periods of adverse conditions, and thereby gain numeric dominance in the plankton community\u201d (Menden-Deuer, et al. 2005).<\/p>\n<p>Microzooplankton are already extremely important to the environment and fulfill many tasks. The information from this study puts <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> near the top of an already powerfully impactful group of organisms. <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> are resilient, and are found to have higher populations than other microzooplankton in less favorable\u00a0environments. They work as both predator and prey, and therefore provide a necessary link in the food chain.<\/p>\n<p>To make a connection between our world today and <em>Protoperidinium<\/em>, we can view <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> as a risky, but necessary negotiator. Although the big guys won\u2019t eat us in our social society, there will be times where we, or people in our community are starved of something they need, and have to seek it, even with consequences. Often to do this we need to communicate with people on every side of an issue, and transfer knowledge to larger powers from people whose voices wouldn\u2019t be heard otherwise. Think of <em>Protoperidinium<\/em> whenever you could be the\u00a0link between voices with an issue and a larger\/less accessible power.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-754  aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Representation-300x210.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"636\" height=\"445\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Representation-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Representation-768x538.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Representation-1024x717.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Representation-945x662.jpg 945w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Representation-600x420.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/209\/2016\/05\/Representation.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><u>Literature Cited<\/u><\/p>\n<p>Evagelopoulos A (2002) Taxonomic notes on <em>Protoperidinium <\/em>(Peridiniale, Dinophyceae) species in the Thermaikos Bay (North Aegean Sea, Greece). Mediterranean Mar Sci 3\/2:41-54<\/p>\n<p>Menden-Deuer S, Evelyn LJ, Satterberg J, Gr\u00fcnbaum D (2005) Growth rate and starvation survival of three species of the pallium-feeding, thecate dinoflagellate genus <em>Protoperidinium<\/em>. Aquat Microb Ecol 41:145-152<\/p>\n<div id=\"contentsContainer\">\u00a0<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>the genus: Protoperidinium<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3301,"featured_media":754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[25,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3301"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/vms-spring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}