Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
194,216 studies31 sourcesUpdated 29 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Communications Biology

Global population structure in MAST-4 unicellular marine predators

  • Francisco Latorre1
  • Olivier Jaillon2,3
  • Michael E. Sieracki4
  • Corinne Cruaud5
  • Ramon Massana1
  • Ramiro Logares1
5 affiliations
  1. 1Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM), CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
  2. 2Metabolic Genomics, Genoscope, Institut de Biologie François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris Saclay, Evry, France
  3. 3FR2022/Tara Oceans GOSEE, Research Federation for the study of Global Ocean Systems Ecology and Evolution, Paris, France
  4. 4Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge, MD USA
  5. 5Genoscope, Institut de biologie François-Jacob, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, France
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Marine heterotrophic flagellates (HFs) are key unicellular predators in marine food webs. Understanding their diversity and distributions is crucial for comprehending ocean ecosystems. MAST-4, an uncultured clade of Marine Stramenopiles, comprises a key group of bacterivorous heterotrophic flagellates (HFs) in the ocean microbiome. While we know that temperature is a major driver of MAST-4’s biogeography, the population structure of MAST-4 species remains poorly known, limiting our ability to understand their ecology and adaptations. Here, we investigate the global population diversity and structure of MAST-4 species A, B, C, and E using metagenomics and single-cell genomics data from the Tara Oceans expedition. We find substantial population divergence in MAST-4A and C, with lower divergence in species B and E. Temperature and salinity are the primary factors structuring these populations. Analyses of positively selected genes reveal genomic regions likely involved in population adaptation to different environments. Our findings enhance the understanding of the population diversity and structure of these critical unicellular predators, providing insights into their ecological roles and adaptations in the global ocean. They also contribute to our general understanding of microbial populations, a largely unexplored dimension of biodiversity that plays a crucial role in grasping the impacts of global change.

Related

  1. Structure of NO16, a marine non-tailed vibriophage with an unusual symmetry-mismatched vertex arrangement
    Sara Otaegi-Ugartemendia, Gabriela N. Condezo, Marta Martínez +3
    PLOS PathogensPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textMolecular biology & gene regulationMicrobiologyPLOS
  2. Global Analysis of Public Cheese Microbiomes Reveals Widespread Bacterial Taxa and Geographic Community Structure
    Jan Sadurski, Adam Staniszewski, Elif Bircan Muyanlı +2
    International Journal of Molecular SciencesPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0General biochemistryCrossref
  3. The Cat Gut Microbial Genome Collection reveals global structure of the feline gut microbiome
    Zhixin Lei, Hengming Liu, Yue Zhang +13
    NPJ Biofilms and MicrobiomesPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textMolecular biology & gene regulationPMC
  4. Eco-phenotypic characterization of Candida palmioleophila from poultry litter and marine environments: implications for One Health
    Dario Corrêa-Junior, Igor Avellar-Moura, Marcos de Abreu Almeida +7
    Archives of microbiologyPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textGeneral biochemistryEurope PMC
  5. Small Free-Living Heterotrophic Flagellates from Marine Sediments of Gippsland Basin, South-Eastern Australia
    Won Je Lee
    Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)Peer-reviewedCC BY14 citedMolecular biology & gene regulationEvolutionary biologyOpenAlex

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{latorre2026global,
  title = {{Global population structure in MAST-4 unicellular marine predators}},
  author = {Francisco Latorre and Olivier Jaillon and Michael E. Sieracki and Corinne Cruaud and Ramon Massana and Ramiro Logares},
  journal = {Communications Biology},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1038/s42003-026-10607-z},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-10607-z},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Global population structure in MAST-4 unicellular marine predators
AU  - Francisco Latorre
AU  - Olivier Jaillon
AU  - Michael E. Sieracki
AU  - Corinne Cruaud
AU  - Ramon Massana
AU  - Ramiro Logares
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/09
JO  - Communications Biology
DO  - 10.1038/s42003-026-10607-z
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-10607-z
AB  - Marine heterotrophic flagellates (HFs) are key unicellular predators in marine food webs. Understanding their diversity and distributions is crucial for comprehending ocean ecosystems. MAST-4, an uncultured clade of Marine Stramenopiles, comprises a key group of bacterivorous heterotrophic flagellates (HFs) in the ocean microbiome. While we know that temperature is a major driver of MAST-4’s biogeography, the population structure of MAST-4 species remains poorly known, limiting our ability to understand their ecology and adaptations. Here, we investigate the global population diversity and structure of MAST-4 species A, B, C, and E using metagenomics and single-cell genomics data from the Tara Oceans expedition. We find substantial population divergence in MAST-4A and C, with lower divergence in species B and E. Temperature and salinity are the primary factors structuring these populations. Analyses of positively selected genes reveal genomic regions likely involved in population adaptation to different environments. Our findings enhance the understanding of the population diversity and structure of these critical unicellular predators, providing insights into their ecological roles and adaptations in the global ocean. They also contribute to our general understanding of microbial populations, a largely unexplored dimension of biodiversity that plays a crucial role in grasping the impacts of global change.
SN  - 2399-3642
ER  -