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A novel free-living prochlorophyte abundant in the oceanic euphotic zone

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Abstract

The recent discovery of photosynthetic picoplankton has changed our understanding of marine food webs1. Both prokaryotic2,3 and eukaryotic4,5 species occur in most of the world's oceans and account for a significant proportion of global productivity6. Using shipboard flow cytometry, we have identified a new group of picoplankters which are extremely abundant, and barely visible using traditional microscopic techniques. These cells are smaller than the coccoid cyanobacteria and reach concentrations greater than 105 cells ml–1 in the deep euphotic zone. They fluoresce red and contain a divinyl chlorophyll a-like pigment, as well as chlorophyll b, α-carotene, and zeaxanthin. This unusual combination of pigments, and a distinctive prokaryotic ultrastructure, suggests that these picoplankters are free-living relatives of Prochloron7. They differ from previously reported prochlorophytes—the putative ancestors of the chloroplasts of higher plants—in that they contain α-carotene rather than β-carotene and contain a divinyl chlorophyll a-like pigment as the dominant chlorophyll.

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Author notes

  1. Robert J. Olson, Erik R. Zettler and John B. Waterbury: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole,Massachusetts 02543, USA

  2. Ralf Goericke and Nicholas A. Welschmeyer: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 48-425 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    Sallie W. Chisholm, Robert J. Olson, Erik R. Zettler, Ralf Goericke, John B. Waterbury & Nicholas A. Welschmeyer

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  1. Sallie W. Chisholm
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  2. Robert J. Olson
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  3. Erik R. Zettler
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  4. Ralf Goericke
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  5. John B. Waterbury
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  6. Nicholas A. Welschmeyer
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Chisholm, S., Olson, R., Zettler, E. et al. A novel free-living prochlorophyte abundant in the oceanic euphotic zone. Nature 334, 340–343 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/334340a0

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