Elemental Composition and Cell Mass Quantification of Cultured Thraustochytrids Unveil Their Large Contribution to Marine Carbon Pool

The element stoichiometry of bacteria has received considerable attention because of their significant role in marine ecosystems. However, relatively little is known about the composition of major structural elements of the unicellular heterotrophic protists—thraustochytrids, despite their widely recognized contribution to marine nutrient cycling. Here, we analyze the cell volume and elemental C, N, H, and S cell content of seven cultured thraustochytrids, isolated from different marine habitats, in the exponential and stationary growth phases. We further derive the relationships between the cell volume and elemental C and N content of the cultured thraustochytrids. The cell volumes varied significantly (p < 0.001) among the isolates, with median values of 96.9 and 212.5 μm(3) in the exponential and stationary phases, respectively. Our results showed a significantly higher percentage of C (64.0 to 67.5) and H (9.9 to 13.2) but a lower percentage of N (1.86 to 2.16) and S (0.34 to 0.91) in the stationary phase, along with marked variations of C and N fractions among isolates in the exponential phase. The cell C (5.7 to 203.7 pg) and N (0.65 to 6.1 pg) content exhibited a significant (p < 0.001) linear relationship with the cell volume (27.7 to 510 μm(3)). On further analysis of the relationship across the two growth phases, we found the equation (cell C (pg) = 0.356 × cell volume (μm(3)) + 20.922) for stationary phase cells more appropriate for C estimation of natural thraustochytrids. This study provides the first experimental evidence of higher cell C density than the current estimate and relatively larger C contribution of thraustochytrids than bacteria to the marine organic pool.