Genomic and functional adaptation in surface ocean planktonic prokaryotes

The understanding of marine microbial ecology and metabolism has been hampered by the paucity of sequenced reference genomes. To this end, we report the sequencing of 137 diverse marine isolates collected from around the world. We analysed these sequences, along with previously published marine prok...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2010-11, Vol.468 (7320), p.60-66
Main Authors: Nealson, Kenneth H, Yooseph, Shibu, Rusch, Douglas B, McCrow, John P, Dupont, Christopher L, Kim, Maria, Johnson, Justin, Montgomery, Robert, Ferriera, Steve, Beeson, Karen, Williamson, Shannon J, Tovchigrechko, Andrey, Allen, Andrew E, Zeigler, Lisa A, Sutton, Granger, Eisenstadt, Eric, Rogers, Yu-Hui, Friedman, Robert, Frazier, Marvin, Venter, J. Craig
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation (Physiology)
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Aquatic Organisms - classification
Aquatic Organisms - genetics
Aquatic Organisms - isolation & purification
Aquatic Organisms - virology
Bacteria
Biodiversity
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Data collection
Databases, Protein
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genetic aspects
Genome, Bacterial - genetics
Genomics
Identification and classification
Marine plankton
Metagenome
Microbial ecology
Microbiology
Models, Biological
Oceans and Seas
Phylogeny
Physiological aspects
Plankton - genetics
Plankton - growth & development
Plankton - isolation & purification
Plankton - metabolism
Prokaryotes
Prokaryotic Cells - classification
Prokaryotic Cells - metabolism
Prokaryotic Cells - virology
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics
Sea water ecosystems
Surface water
Synecology
Various environments (extraatmospheric space, air, water)
Water Microbiology
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Summary:The understanding of marine microbial ecology and metabolism has been hampered by the paucity of sequenced reference genomes. To this end, we report the sequencing of 137 diverse marine isolates collected from around the world. We analysed these sequences, along with previously published marine prokaryotic genomes, in the context of marine metagenomic data, to gain insights into the ecology of the surface ocean prokaryotic picoplankton (0.1-3.0 μm size range). The results suggest that the sequenced genomes define two microbial groups: one composed of only a few taxa that are nearly always abundant in picoplanktonic communities, and the other consisting of many microbial taxa that are rarely abundant. The genomic content of the second group suggests that these microbes are capable of slow growth and survival in energy-limited environments, and rapid growth in energy-rich environments. By contrast, the abundant and cosmopolitan picoplanktonic prokaryotes for which there is genomic representation have smaller genomes, are probably capable of only slow growth and seem to be relatively unable to sense or rapidly acclimate to energy-rich conditions. Their genomic features also lead us to propose that one method used to avoid predation by viruses and/or bacterivores is by means of slow growth and the maintenance of low biomass.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/nature09530