Tag Archives: Follows

Biophysical Aspects of Resource Acquisition and Competition in Algal Mixotrophs

Mixotrophy, , ,

Mixotrophic organisms combine autotrophic and heterotrophic nutrition and are abundant in both freshwater and marine environments. Recent observations indicate that mixotrophs constitute a large fraction of the biomass, bacterivory, and primary production in oligotrophic environments. While mixotrophy allows greater flexibility in terms of resource acquisition, any advantage must be traded off against an associated increase in metabolic costs, which appear to make mixotrophs uncompetitive relative to obligate autotrophs and heterotrophs.

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Publication

Ward, B.A., S. Dutkiewicz, A.D. Barton and M.J. Follows (2011), Biophysical Aspects of Resource Acquisition and Competition in Algal Mixotrophs, The American Naturalist, Vol. 178, No. 1 (July 2011), pp. 98-112, doi: 10.1086/660284

IronInEnzymes-3_126139

Hot-Bunking’ Bacterium Recycles Iron to Boost Ocean Metabolism

Nitrogen Fixation, ,

Iron is an essential nutrient for living things, but is scarce in the ocean. Darwin Project researchers Stephanie Dutkiewisz, Mick Follows and Fanny Monteiro, collaborating with a team from WHOI led by Mak Saito are reporting they have found that a key marine bacterium, Crocosphaera watsonii, may have evolved a remarkable biochemical way to recycle iron for dual metabolic activities. You can read more about this work in the following WHOI News Office release or in Saito et al (2011), a recent paper in PNAS.

Publication

Saito, M. A., E . M. Bertrand, S. Dutkiewicz, V. V. Bulygin, D. M. Moran, F. M. Monteiro, M. J. Follows, F. W. Valois, and J. B. Waterbury (2011), Iron conservation by reduction of metalloenzyme inventories in the marine diazotroph Crocosphaera watsonii.
Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1006943108

 

Publication

Monteiro, F., M. J. Follows and S. Dutkiewicz (2010), Distribution of diverse nitrogen fixers in the global ocean, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 24, GB3017, doi:10.1029/2009GB003731

 

Publication

Barton, A.D., S. Dutkiewicz, G. Flierl, J. Bragg, and M.J. Follows (2010), Response to Comment on “Patterns of Diversity in Marine Phytoplankton”, Science, 329 (5991), 512-d. doi:10.1126/science.1190048

Publication

Hickman, A.E., S. Dutkiewicz, R.G. Williams, and M.J. Follows (2010), Modelling the effects of chromatic adaptation on phytoplankton comunity structure in the oligotrophic ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 406, 1-17, doi:10.3354/meps08588

Publication

Bragg, J., S. Dutkiewicz, O. Jahn, M. Follows, S.W. Chisholm (2010), Modeling selective pressures on picocyanobacterial nitrogen use in the global ocean, PLoS ONE, 5, e9569. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009569. LINK