Travelling Expenses: The Energy Cost of Diel Vertical Migrations of Epipelic Microphytobenthos
The physiology of the diel movements of epipelic microphytobenthic diatoms is not fully understood. As well, the evolutionary pressures that led to migratory behavior and the ecological role of vertical migrations remain unknown. The behavioral photoprotection hypothesis, according to which the diat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00433/full |
| _version_ | 1818536824239292416 |
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| author | Jorge Marques da Silva Bernardo Duarte Andrei Borissovitch Utkin Andrei Borissovitch Utkin |
| author_facet | Jorge Marques da Silva Bernardo Duarte Andrei Borissovitch Utkin Andrei Borissovitch Utkin |
| author_sort | Jorge Marques da Silva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The physiology of the diel movements of epipelic microphytobenthic diatoms is not fully understood. As well, the evolutionary pressures that led to migratory behavior and the ecological role of vertical migrations remain unknown. The behavioral photoprotection hypothesis, according to which the diatoms move along the vertical light gradient to find their optimal light environment, is the most generally accepted. However, the motion is associated with an energy cost that has not been fully acknowledged before. To throw light on this issue, we looked at the mechanisms of diatom locomotion and reviewed their patterns of movement. Making use of published data, we estimated an energy cost of 0.12 pJ for a typical diatom cell to move upward (or downward) in a 400 μm photic zone. This amounts to 3.93 ×10−18 mol of ATP, which are released by the oxidation of 1.31 ×10−19 mol of glucose. This represents only 0.0001% of the daily net photosynthetic production of a typical microphytobenthic diatom cell, showing that diel vertical migrations have a negligible impact on cell and ecosystem energy budget. Even though the migration energy cost of individual cells may depart almost two orders of magnitude from the central value presented for a typical diatom (depending on cell size, velocity of displacement, and viscosity of the medium), the maximum value calculated is still negligible from the metabolic and ecologic point of view. Results show that behavioral photoprotection might be an energetically cheap mechanism, offering competitive advantages when compared with structural/physiological photoprotection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:42:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-df6d41eb1b734035927512b6e7262222 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:42:54Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-df6d41eb1b734035927512b6e72622222022-12-22T00:54:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452020-06-01710.3389/fmars.2020.00433518160Travelling Expenses: The Energy Cost of Diel Vertical Migrations of Epipelic MicrophytobenthosJorge Marques da Silva0Bernardo Duarte1Andrei Borissovitch Utkin2Andrei Borissovitch Utkin3Faculty of Sciences, BioISI - Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, PortugalMARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculty of Sciences, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, PortugalINOV INESC Inovação, Lisbon, PortugalCeFEMA, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, PortugalThe physiology of the diel movements of epipelic microphytobenthic diatoms is not fully understood. As well, the evolutionary pressures that led to migratory behavior and the ecological role of vertical migrations remain unknown. The behavioral photoprotection hypothesis, according to which the diatoms move along the vertical light gradient to find their optimal light environment, is the most generally accepted. However, the motion is associated with an energy cost that has not been fully acknowledged before. To throw light on this issue, we looked at the mechanisms of diatom locomotion and reviewed their patterns of movement. Making use of published data, we estimated an energy cost of 0.12 pJ for a typical diatom cell to move upward (or downward) in a 400 μm photic zone. This amounts to 3.93 ×10−18 mol of ATP, which are released by the oxidation of 1.31 ×10−19 mol of glucose. This represents only 0.0001% of the daily net photosynthetic production of a typical microphytobenthic diatom cell, showing that diel vertical migrations have a negligible impact on cell and ecosystem energy budget. Even though the migration energy cost of individual cells may depart almost two orders of magnitude from the central value presented for a typical diatom (depending on cell size, velocity of displacement, and viscosity of the medium), the maximum value calculated is still negligible from the metabolic and ecologic point of view. Results show that behavioral photoprotection might be an energetically cheap mechanism, offering competitive advantages when compared with structural/physiological photoprotection.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00433/fullmicrophytobenthosdiatomssedimentsmigrationenergy |
| spellingShingle | Jorge Marques da Silva Bernardo Duarte Andrei Borissovitch Utkin Andrei Borissovitch Utkin Travelling Expenses: The Energy Cost of Diel Vertical Migrations of Epipelic Microphytobenthos Frontiers in Marine Science microphytobenthos diatoms sediments migration energy |
| title | Travelling Expenses: The Energy Cost of Diel Vertical Migrations of Epipelic Microphytobenthos |
| title_full | Travelling Expenses: The Energy Cost of Diel Vertical Migrations of Epipelic Microphytobenthos |
| title_fullStr | Travelling Expenses: The Energy Cost of Diel Vertical Migrations of Epipelic Microphytobenthos |
| title_full_unstemmed | Travelling Expenses: The Energy Cost of Diel Vertical Migrations of Epipelic Microphytobenthos |
| title_short | Travelling Expenses: The Energy Cost of Diel Vertical Migrations of Epipelic Microphytobenthos |
| title_sort | travelling expenses the energy cost of diel vertical migrations of epipelic microphytobenthos |
| topic | microphytobenthos diatoms sediments migration energy |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00433/full |
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