Seminar by Cécile Jauzein, researcher at Dyneco/Pelagos

 

The next DYNECO seminar will be presented by Cécile Jauzein, researcher at DYNECO/PELAGOS on: "Altruism in marine phytoplankton? Activation of cell suicide in dinoflagellates in response to parasite infection"

 

Thursday 21 March 2024 at 11am in the DYNECO meeting room (Ifremer Plouzané, Building 216)
 
The seminar will be held in french.

 

Summary:
During the dynamics of phytoplankton blooms, various mortality pathways can be activated, either in response to abiotic stresses (nutrient deficiency, thermal shock, etc.) or in connection with biotic interactions (grazing, viral and parasitic infections, etc.). Among these, one in particular has been little explored: that of so-called programmed cell death, or cell suicide. The maintenance of genes regulating a self-destruction cascade in unicellular organisms may raise questions from an evolutionary point of view. However, these genes are widely found in living organisms, particularly in cyanobacteria, diatoms and marine dinoflagellates. They could be the hallmark of cooperative processes between organisms, where the benefit is not at the level of the organism (the microalgal cell), but of the population (the bloom). During this seminar, I will present recent results showing the activation of cell suicide in a marine dinoflagellate, Scripsiella acuminata, in response to infections by the parasite Amoebophrya. This case study proves the interconnections between different mortality pathways during bloom declines and opens up the idea of cooperation between organisms; towards the notion of altruism in phytoplankton?