Abstract
On the Genesis and Function of Coccolithophore Calcification
Highlights
Coccolithophores occupy an important role in carbon cycling dynamics over short and geological time scales due to the process of calcification fuelled by photosynthetic energy
Since the discovery that coccoliths are of biological origin (Sorby, 1861), the general understanding of coccolithophore calcification has substantially increased and the underlying calcium carbonate precipitation kinetics and the cellular mechanisms involved have been partly revealed (e.g., Mackinder et al, 2011; Mejía et al, 2018)
Such an evolutionary feature has been coined exaptation, a trait that enhances fitness but was not shaped by natural selection because of its current function (Gould and Vrba, 1982). This opens the opportunity to separate possible benefits of coccolithophore calcification into two groups: (1) its end-benefits depending on the prevailing ecological settings and (2) its historical benefits at the time of the stepwise development of intracellular calcification and the genesis of coccoliths
Summary
Over the past two decades, the process of calcification in coccolithophores has received increased attention due to ongoing anthropogenic ocean acidification and the associated elevated energy demand for marine calcifiers to build their CaCO3 structures (e.g., Hofmann et al, 2010). One main challenge in coccolithophore evolution and ecology is to understand the possible functions and benefits of intracellular calcium carbonate precipitation.
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