Mixotrophy: Microbial Multitasking

It was once thought that plankton that could combine phototrophy and phagotrophy were just curiosities. Now, it is recognized that most protist plankton communities are largely comprised of mixotrophs. In its broadest definition, mixotrophy is the ability of an organism to combine autotrophy and heterotrophy. This lifestyle fundamentally changes our understanding of the flow of energy and materials in the food web, with implications for productivity, ecosystem stability, and biodiversity. This chapter explores the processes of mixotrophy, advantages and traits of mixoplankton, mechanisms of feeding and implications for conceptualizing food web interactions, and current classifications of mixoplankton and their global distribution and their importance in the biological pump.