Title | Physiology and molecular phylogeny of coexisting Prochlorococcus ecotypes |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 1998 |
Authors | Moore, LR, Rocap, G, Chisholm, SW |
Journal | Nature |
Volume | 393 |
Pagination | 464-467 |
Date Published | Jun 4 |
ISBN Number | 0028-0836 |
Accession Number | WOS:000074020000043 |
Keywords | community structure, distributions, divinyl chlorophyll-a, genetic diversity, north-atlantic ocean, Picoplankton, sea, sequence-analysis, skeletonema-costatum bacillariophyceae, Synechococcus |
Abstract | The cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus(1,2) is the dominant oxygenic phototroph in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world's (1,3,4). It can grow at a range of depths over which light oceans intensities can vary by up to 4 orders of magnitude. This broad depth distribution has been hypothesized to stem from the coexistence of genetically different populations adapted for growth at high-and low-light intensities(4-6). Here we report direct evidence supporting this hypothesis, which has been generated by isolating and analysing distinct co-occurring populations of Prochlorococcus at two locations in the North Atlantic. Go-isolates from the same water sample have very different light-dependent physiologies, one growing maximally at light intensities at which the other is completely photoinhibited. Despite this ecotypic differentiation, the co-isolates have 97% similarity in their 16S ribosomal RNA sequences, demonstrating that molecular microdiversity, commonly observed in microbial systems(7-12), can be due to the coexistence of closely related, physiologically distinct populations. The coexistence and distribution of multiple ecotypes permits the survival of the population as a whole over a broader range of environmental conditions than would be possible for a homogeneous population. |
DOI | 10.1038/30965 |
Short Title | Nature |
Alternate Journal | Nature |