Cyanobacteria as a primary producer provide energy and carbon sources for the marine food web, of which predation-interactions play central roles in regulating global element cycles and marine ecosystem stability. Here, we report the anti-predation activity of a typical marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus MED4 to defend the predation by Uronema marinum. MED4 synthesize formaldehyde as the anti-predation chemical, of which the synthesis was light-dependent and predator-inducible. Compared to other protists, both the higher concentration of accumulated formaldehyde in U. marinum and the lower formaldehyde tolerance of U. marinum resulted in the specific anti-predation of MED4 against U. marinum. This specific anti-predation could regulate the cyanobacterial growth and the U. marinum infection of marine fishes. Metadata analyses showed the mutually exclusion of Prochlorococcus and Uronema in global marine environments. These findings significantly advance our understanding of the marine food web and biogeochemical cycles.
Lin, P., Yuan, Y., Liu, X., Gao, Z., Hou, T., Huang, L., Zhang, R., Mai, B.-X., He, Z., Liu, H., Zeng, Q., Wang, S.
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