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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Nature Communications

Alteromonas macleodii breaches the diatom frustule triggering protoplast emergence and programmed necrosis-like death in Thalassiosira rotula

  • Isobel Short1
  • Clara Martínez-Pérez1,2
  • Samuel Miravet-Verde3
  • Shinichi Sunagawa3
  • Roman Stocker1
  • Uria Alcolombri4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Institute of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ), Zürich, Switzerland
  2. 2Present Address: Limnological Research Station, Department of Hydrology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
  3. 3Institute of Microbiology and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Department of Biology, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ), Zürich, Switzerland
  4. 4Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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Abstract

Diatom-bacteria interactions drive biogeochemical fluxes at the base of the marine food-web. Although bacteria are increasingly recognised as important drivers of algal mortality, the diversity of algicidal strategies remains understudied. Here we show that Alteromonas macleodii, a recurrent member of Thalassiosira rotula’s microbiome, breaches the diatom’s silica frustule, inducing >95% of cells to emerge from their shells within 72 h, exposing protoplasts to lysis and exploitation. Whilst protoplast formation was induced by diverse bacteria, A. macleodii uniquely caused population-wide collapse, used here to characterise this diatom stress response. Dual transcriptomics indicated the presence of a programmed necrosis-like cell death pathway in diatoms underpinning T. rotula’s terminal morphological change, alongside upregulation of bacterial motility, chemotaxis and opportunistic metabolism. These findings reveal a potent algicidal strategy, recasting A. macleodii as an antagonist that exploits diatom mortality for its own benefit, removes the ballast provided by their frustules and thus reshapes oceanic carbon cycling.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{short2026alteromonas,
  title = {{Alteromonas macleodii breaches the diatom frustule triggering protoplast emergence and programmed necrosis-like death in Thalassiosira rotula}},
  author = {Isobel Short and Clara Martínez-Pérez and Samuel Miravet-Verde and Shinichi Sunagawa and Roman Stocker and Uria Alcolombri},
  journal = {Nature Communications},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78079-7},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-78079-7},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Alteromonas macleodii breaches the diatom frustule triggering protoplast emergence and programmed necrosis-like death in Thalassiosira rotula
AU  - Isobel Short
AU  - Clara Martínez-Pérez
AU  - Samuel Miravet-Verde
AU  - Shinichi Sunagawa
AU  - Roman Stocker
AU  - Uria Alcolombri
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/26
JO  - Nature Communications
DO  - 10.1038/s41467-026-78079-7
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-78079-7
AB  - Diatom-bacteria interactions drive biogeochemical fluxes at the base of the marine food-web. Although bacteria are increasingly recognised as important drivers of algal mortality, the diversity of algicidal strategies remains understudied. Here we show that Alteromonas macleodii, a recurrent member of Thalassiosira rotula’s microbiome, breaches the diatom’s silica frustule, inducing >95% of cells to emerge from their shells within 72 h, exposing protoplasts to lysis and exploitation. Whilst protoplast formation was induced by diverse bacteria, A. macleodii uniquely caused population-wide collapse, used here to characterise this diatom stress response. Dual transcriptomics indicated the presence of a programmed necrosis-like cell death pathway in diatoms underpinning T. rotula’s terminal morphological change, alongside upregulation of bacterial motility, chemotaxis and opportunistic metabolism. These findings reveal a potent algicidal strategy, recasting A. macleodii as an antagonist that exploits diatom mortality for its own benefit, removes the ballast provided by their frustules and thus reshapes oceanic carbon cycling.
SN  - 2041-1723
ER  -