Diversity of diazotrophic unicellular cyanobacteria in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean.
We present data on the genetic diversity and phylogenetic affinities of N2-fixing unicellular cyanobacteria in the plankton of the tropical North Atlantic Ocean. Our dinitrogenase gene (nifH) sequences grouped together with a group of cyanobacteria from the subtropical North Pacific; another subtropical North Pacific group was only distantly related. Most of the 16S ribosomal DNA sequences from our tropical North Atlantic samples were closely allied with sequences from a symbiont of the diatom Climacodium frauenfeldianum. These findings suggest a complex pattern of evolutionary and ecological divergence among unicellular cyanobacteria within and between ocean basins.
Falcón
Luisa I
LI
Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5000, USA. lfalcon@sfsu.edu
Cipriano
Frank
F
Chistoserdov
Andrei Y
AY
Carpenter
Edward J
EJ
D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D005075:Biological Evolution; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008386:Marine Biology; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*; D014871:Water Microbiology
D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C029130:nitrogenase reductase