Ref ID : 7069
Diane K. Stoecker, M.W. Silver, A.E. Michaels, and L.H. Davis; Obligate mixotrophy in Laboea strobila, a ciliate which retains chloroplasts. Marine Biology 99:415-423, 1988
Reprint
In File
Notes
The planktonic ciliate Laboea strobila Lohmann sequesters photosynthetically functional chloroplasts derived from ingested algae. The chloroplasts lie free in the cytoplasm and are most abundant just under the pellicle of the ciliate. The maximum rate of photosynthesis (Pmax) was 925 pgC ciliate-1 hr-1 (3.7 pgC pg chl. a-1 hr-1). At saturating irradiance, the amount of carbon fixed hr-1 equaled 12.6% of the body carbon of the ciliate. To grow, L. strobila requires both light and algal food. In the absence of food, survival of L. strobila is significantly longer in the light than in the dark. Based on ingestion rate and photosynthetic rate, we calculate that photosynthesis can make an important contribution to this ciliate's carbon budget even when algal food is plentiful.