Host specificity in diatom-bacteria interactions alleviates antagonistic effects.

While different microalgae tend to be associated with different bacteria, it remains unclear whether such specific associations are beneficial for the microalgae. We assessed the impact of bacterial isolates, derived from various marine benthic diatoms, on the growth of several strains belonging to the Cylindrotheca closterium diatom species complex. We first tested the effect of 35 different bacterial isolates on the growth of a single C. closterium strain, and then evaluated the impact of 8 of these isolates on the growth of 6 C. closterium strains and 1 Cylindrotheca fusiformis strain. Surprisingly, most interactions were neutral to antagonistic. The interactions were highly specific, with diatom growth in the presence of specific bacteria differing between Cylindrotheca strains and species, and closely related bacteria eliciting contrasting diatom growth responses. These differences could be related to the origin of the bacterial isolates, as only isolates from foreign diatom hosts significantly reduced diatom growth, implying coadaptation between different Cylindrotheca strains and their associated bacteria. Interestingly, the antagonistic effect of a Marinobacter strain was alleviated by the presence of a microbial inoculum that was native to the diatom host, suggesting that coadapted bacteria might also benefit their host indirectly by preventing the establishment of harmful bacteria.