Roughly two-thirds of the proteins annotated as transcription factors in dinoflagellate transcriptomes are cold shock domain-containing proteins (CSPs), an uncommon condition in eukaryotic organisms. However, no functional analysis has ever been reported for a dinoflagellate CSP, and so it is not known if they do in fact act as transcription factors. We describe here some of the properties of t...

Dinoflagellate protists harbor a characteristic peridinin-containing plastid that evolved from a red or haptophyte alga. In contrast to typical plastids that have ∼100-200 kb circular genomes, the dinoflagellate plastid genome is composed of minicircles that each encode 0-5 genes. It is commonly assumed that dinoflagellate minicircles are derived from a standard plastid genome through drastic r...

Citation: Hu L, Peng X, Zhou J, Zhang Y, Xu S, Mao X, Gao Y and Liang J (2015) Characterizing the Interactions Among a Dinoflagellate, Flagellate and Bacteria in the Phycosphere of Alexandrium tamarense (Dinophyta). Front. Mar. Sci. 2:100. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2015.00100 Characterizing the Interactions Among a Dinoflagellate, Flagellate and Bacteria in the Phycosphere of Alexandrium tamarense (Di...

Citation: Onda DFL, Medrinal E, Comeau AM, Thaler M, Babin M and Lovejoy C (2017) Seasonal and Interannual Changes in Ciliate and Dinoflagellate Species Assemblages in the Arctic Ocean (Amundsen Gulf, Beaufort Sea, Canada). Front. Mar. Sci. 4:16. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00016 Seasonal and Interannual Changes in Ciliate and Dinoflagellate Species Assemblages in the Arctic Ocean (Amundsen Gulf, B...

Chromatin was prepared by two dif ferent methods f rom isolated nuclei of Gyrodinium cohnii ( Cryptothecodinium cohnii) and Peridinium trochoideum. These isolation procedures are different from those generally used to prepare eukaryote chromatin, because the latter do not work for dinoflagellate chromatin. The chemical composition of this chromatin is similar for both methods of preparation and...

Plastids utilize a complex gene expression machinery, which has coevolved with the underlying genome sequence. Relatively, little is known about the genome-wide evolution of transcript processing in algal plastids that have undergone complex endosymbiotic events. We present the first genome-wide study of transcript processing in a plastid acquired through serial endosymbiosis, in the fucoxanthi...

Fluorescence is common in both coral adult and larval stages, and is produced by fluorescent proteins that absorb higher energy light and emit lower energy light. This study investigated the changes of coral fluorescence in different life history stages and the effects of parental light environment on larval fluorescence, larval endosymbiotic dinoflagellate abundance, larval size and settlement...

The symbiosis between cnidarians (e.g., corals or sea anemones) and intracellular dinoflagellate algae of the genus Symbiodinium is of immense ecological importance. In particular, this symbiosis promotes the growth and survival of reef corals in nutrient-poor tropical waters; indeed, coral reefs could not exist without this symbiosis. However, our fundamental understanding of the cnidarian-din...

Citation: Poulson-Ellestad KL, Harvey EL, Johnson MD and Mincer TJ (2016) Evidence for Strain-Specific Exometabolomic Responses of the Coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi to Grazing by the Dinoflagellate Oxyrrhis marina. Front. Mar. Sci. 3:1. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2016.00001 Evidence for Strain-Specific Exometabolomic Responses of the Coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi to Grazing by the Dinoflagellat...

The presence of P. piscicida in Chesapeake Bay is documented. The appearance and behavior of the algae and symptoms associated with fish mortality were consistent with those previously observed in P. piscicida-associated aquaria fish kills in North Carolina. The discovery of P. piscicida in Chesapeake Bay shows that dinoflagellates have a dramatic and far-reaching impact on fish stocks in shall...