Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
Marine Biology, Biology Department, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2019 Dec 1;95(12). doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiz178.
Archaea have been the most overlooked and enigmatic of the three domains of life for decades. Knowledge of key ecological interactions, such as trophic links between this domain and higher level organisms, remains extremely limited. The co-occurrence of halophilic Archaea (haloarchaea) and the non-selective filter feeder, brine shrimp Artemia under the unique ecological characteristics of hypersaline aquatic environments, constitutes an excellent opportunity to further unravel the ecological role of the Archaea domain as a source of food to zooplankton metazoans. In the present study, we combine the use of haloarchaea biomass assimilation experiments using 13C isotope as tracer, with gnotobiotic Artemia culture tests using haloarchaea mono-diets, to investigate potential trophic links between the organisms. Our results demonstrated the ability of Artemia to assimilate nutrients from mono-diets of haloarchaea biomass in order to survive and grow, providing clear indications that archivory may occur in hypersaline aquatic environments. Additionally, our study highlights the use of stable isotopes labelling as a potential tool to further disentangle the specific pathways by which archaeal cellular constituents are digested by consumers.
几十年来，古菌一直是生命的三个领域中最被忽视和神秘的领域。对于这个领域与高等生物之间的关键生态相互作用的了解，仍然极其有限。在高盐水生环境的独特生态特征下，嗜盐古菌（haloarchaea）和非选择性滤食者盐水虾 Artemia 的共存，为进一步揭示古菌作为浮游动物后生动物的食物来源的生态角色提供了极好的机会。在本研究中，我们结合使用 13C 同位素示踪的古菌生物量同化实验，以及使用古菌单饮食的无菌盐水虾培养测试，来研究生物体之间可能存在的营养联系。我们的结果表明，盐水虾有能力从古菌生物量的单饮食中吸收营养物质以生存和生长，这清楚地表明在高盐水生环境中可能存在archivory。此外，我们的研究强调了使用稳定同位素标记作为一种潜在工具，以进一步阐明消费者消化古菌细胞成分的具体途径。
