Relationships between intracellular bacteria and the bivalve killer dinoflagellate Heterocapsa circularisquama (Dinophyceae)

Abstract

: Relationships between the growths of five different clonal strains of Heterocapsa circularisquama and intracellular bacteria were investigated using culture experiments. Although each H. circularisquama strain culture was established from one cell by repeated and careful washings with micropipettes, intracellular and extracellular bacteria in each strain culture were still observed under a epifluorescence microscope using the DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining technique. The extracellular bacteria are derived, presumably, from the inside of algal cells after the death and collapse of algal cells in culture. Using an electron microscope, bacteria were constantly observed in the cytoplasm and food vacuoles of H. circularisquama cells. The growth of five algal strains containing bacteria was compared with that of a bacteria-free strain using culture experiments under combined conditions of five different light intensities and five different strengths of culture medium. Bacteria showed no significant effect on the growth or survival of the algal cells. During the algal exponential growth phase, the intracellular bacterial cell numbers per algal cell decreased, whereas the total bacterial cell density in each algal culture increased. Final cell yield (total number) of the intracellular and extracellular bacteria varied considerably according to the algal strains. These results suggest that the intracellular bacteria of H. circularisquama grow or survive depending on the host alga, and that the alga can grow independently.