Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026
06:24
Individual Culturing of Tigriopus Copepods and Quantitative Analysis of Their Mate-guarding Behavior
Published on: September 26, 2018
Taming the smallest predators of the oceans
Javier del Campo1, Fabrice Not, Irene Forn
1Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Institut de Ciències del Mar, (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain. jdelcampo@ibe.upf-csic.es
The ISME Journal
|July 20, 2012
Summary
Researchers cultured elusive, ecologically vital bacterivorous protists by mimicking natural conditions. This breakthrough isolates novel lineages like Minorisa minuta, advancing understanding of microbial diversity and ecosystem roles.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Eukaryotic Diversity
- Marine Ecology
Background:
- Protists represent vast eukaryotic diversity but are underrepresented in cultures.
- Environmental surveys reveal novel, uncultured protist lineages.
- Culture bias severely limits understanding of heterotrophic protists.
Purpose of the Study:
- To isolate and culture ecologically significant, yet previously uncultured, bacterivorous protists.
- To overcome culture bias in protist research.
- To characterize novel protist lineages from environmental samples.
Main Methods:
- Mimicking in situ conditions using amended seawater and natural bacterial assemblages.
- Single-cell sorting via serial dilution and flow cytometry.
- Isolation and characterization of novel protist strains.
Main Results:
- Successfully cultured previously uncultured bacterivorous protists.
- Isolated Minorisa minuta gen. nov. sp. nov., a novel Rhizaria lineage.
- Minorisa minuta is a globally distributed, ultra-small bacterivore, comprising up to 5% of coastal heterotrophic protists.
Conclusions:
- Culturing elusive protists is crucial for understanding their ecophysiology, genomics, and evolutionary significance.
- Mimicking natural conditions effectively overcomes culture bias.
- Novel isolates like Minorisa minuta provide key insights into microbial ecosystems.
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