#ceratium

Marine dinoflagellate Species: Ceratium furca

"The light [that saved an astronaut] was the bioluminescence of planktonic life, and fortunately, you don't have to be a stranded fighter pilot to see it in action. That surface oceanic light is most likely attributable to a certain kind of single-celled eukaryote called a dinoflagellate. There are more than 2000 living species of dinoflagellates, and while a few are found in freshwater, most are some form of marine plankton."

Journey to the Microcosmos- Dinoflagellates: The Algae That Saved an Astronaut

Images Originally Captured by Jam's Germs

"Aside from their importance, dinoflagellates are kind of quirky. For one thing, they have a really weird nucleus.... The dinokaryon can hold a truly absurd amount of DNA for a eukaryotic nucleus. A human nucleus, just for reference, holds about 3 picograms of DNA. Meanwhile, some dinoflagellates species can hold somewhere from 100-200 picograms of DNA in their dinokaryon. And where most eukaryotes pack our DNA into little structures connected togehter like beads on a string, dinoflagellate DNA does not have that clear of an architecture. Even more weird: they have the genes to make that kind of orderly arrangement possible, they just rarely seem to use them."

Journey to the Microcosmos- Dinoflagellates: The Algae That Saved an Astronaut

-"Dinoflagellates also swim kind of funny. It's part of why we can't show them too often because they're always whirling in and out of focus. One is held in a structure around the organism's equator, spinning and moving the organism forward. The other flagella, which you can see here coming out the end of the dinoflagellate, helps the organism steer around."

Journey to the Microcosmos- Dinoflagellates: The Algae That Saved an Astronaut

Images Originally Captured by Jam's Germs

"Scientists have hypothesized that dinoflagellates flash their lights as a kind of "burglar alarm" in response to predators, attracting the attention of other organisms that will eat the dinoflagellates' own enemies. So, no, they're not scaring away their predators. They are attracting the predators of their predators. This system of bioluminescence and the molecules underlying it has its parallels across a lot of other animals, including fireflies. And whether they are taking in light for photosynthesis or producing it through their own pathways, dinoflagellates have evolved their own mastery of illumination."

Journey to the Microcosmos- Dinoflagellates: The Algae That Saved an Astronaut

Images Originally Captured by Jam's Germs

"Dinoflagellates survive on a mix of diets. Some are purely phototrophic, consuming food produced by their own chlorplasts. But most are mixotrophic, meaning that they rely on a mix of photosynthesis and consumption. In either capacity, dinoflagellates are hugely important for their local ecosystmes. As marine primary producers, they are second only to diatoms. And when dinoflagellates consume other organisms, they link together various facets of production and consumption in the ocean, sending energy up the food chain."

Journey to the Microcosmos- Dinoflagellates: The Algae That Saved an Astronaut

Journey to the Microcosmos-  Synura: Smelly, Flowery Confetti Images originally captured by Jam’s Germs