Marine Phytoplankton Research Analysis

MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:
?
Introduction:
Organismal biology, the study of organism-level ecology, function, structure
and evolution, provides a rich arena for research alone, But also plays a central
role in reacting to both ecological and evolutionary philosophical issues.
Organisms link with biology, physiology and behavior the fields of comparative
genomics, evolutionary growth and phylogenetics. Here in the given paper the life
history of the two chosen extant organisms are discussed. Moreover, the paper
discusses the morphology, evolutionary biology and the phylogenetics aspect of
the extant plant and animal organism chosen. The organisms chosen for the given
report is marine phytoplankton.
Marine Phytoplankton:
The similarity between phytoplanktons and that of terrestrial plants lies in the
fact that both have chlorophyll and survive with the help of sunlight. Some
phytoplanktons grow on the surface or upper half of the waterbody, where
sunlight penetrates the water surface, becomes buoyant and floating. In order to
grow successfully, the phytoplanktons require inorganic as well as organic
nutrients which include phosphates, nitrates, sulpher and carbohydrate, fats,
protein respectively. Phytoplanktons are broadly classified into two groups-
dinoflagellates and diatoms. Dinoflagellates have body encased in shells and their
tail resemble a whip, which is referred to as flagella and helps them move their
body through the mud. On the other hand, diatoms use the current of the ocean
to sort of fly through the water, rather than relying on flagella. Phytoplanktons
provide food in a healthy environment for a huge array of marine creatures that
include whales, crabs, snails, and jellyfish amongst others. Phytoplanktons can
grow uncontrollably when there is too much availability of nutrients forming
harmful algal blooms (HABs). Such algal blooms may contain toxic compounds
which have severe adverse effects on aquatic animals such as fish, shellfish,
rodents, birds and in turn humans.
Morphology:
The seven types of Phytoplanktons strive together all throughout the year.
However, they have the highest rate of growth around the spring seasons, as well
as summer. Due to the huge seasonal abundance variation and the prevailing

negative relation between GALD and S / V in case of each form, some particularly
persistent and dominant trends in terms of morphology have been observed all
year round, which signifies one or more strategies for adapting to the
environment. Smaller organisms with GALD < 15 m which usually include round
(for example, sph, conhalf) and bigger species with GALD up to 80 which have
elongated shapes and are attenuated in one or two planes ( for example, cyl,
prismell, prispar) are two morphological adaptations that are capable of existing
together. These adaptations enable the phytoplanktons to best fit within the same
taxa as well as across different taxa according to the environmental conditions in
the LoV. Without obvious discontinuities, the seven different types were
distributed across various size scales, so that different shaped species
represented each set. Nevertheless, not all forms were found in every range of
size, and some forms were usually limited to specific ranges only This is likely the
result of different strategies of adaption that were utilized for GALD and S/V. The
LoV is a sort of mixed environment which is shallow and contains a high amount
of nutrient and thus is euphoric in nature, even though it has a strong light
attenuation. With the aim of coexistence, a small number of phenotypes that are
prevalent in nature are selected by this method. On comparing waters that were
the Mediterranean with coastal transitional waters, similar results were found.
One of the most crucial reasons for intraspecific as well as inter-specific diversity
was found to be the way that phytoplanktons responded to the amount of
nutrients and light available in the waterbody. Small, unicellular nanoplanktonic
algae, able to grow rapidly and invasively when nutrients are available and water
is not stratified.
Evolutionary Biology:
Apart from the fact that the phytoplanktons are spread over a large
taxonomic area, they also differ from each other in terms of many characteristics.
This plays a large role in how they evolve with respect to changes in the global
environment. As an example, several aquatic phytoplanktons have a strategy of
‘bloom-and-bust' for their life cycle, where they receive huge concentration of
cells by dividing in a rapid manner which can be as high as millions of cells per
litre. This process takes place in a span of few days to a few weeks. A distinctive
species sequence is found in some, until both adverse effects, which may include
responses that are physiological or evolutionary in nature to acidification of each
species, and indirect effects which may include modifications in interactions of
constant change. This can pose as genetic drivers that result in the blooming of
the phytoplankton. The phytoplankton bloom might be destroyed due to various
factors such as grazing, loss of nutrients, and attacks done virally, all of which
may change as the ocean acidifies. This method of life cycle can result in changes
in ploidy and alterations in sexual reproduction making it a tedious task to design
experiments that integrate the chances that such strategies will undergo
evolution sue to acidification of the ocean. Practicalities partially specify
limitations in the experiment as such phytoplanktons of the marine origin can only
be cultivated in the asexual phase of their life cycle, hence the evolutionary
modifications can not investigated in the other phases of its life. Whether
phytoplanktons enhance variation via sexual reproduction and to what extent also
cannot be understood. For instance, the amount of sexual reproduction estimated
vary in diatoms in the course of every two to forty years. Similarly there are also
unknown rates of dispersal between populations.
Phylogenetics & Physiology:
Various sequences of chlorophyta were associated with Mamiellophyceae,
based on the 18S rRNA gene in three out of the five Micromonas clades that were
proposed (I, III and V). In both April and October Micromonas and Bathycoccus