title: Diversity of bacterioplankton.
abstract: We do not know how many bacterial species exist in the world, or in any particular environment, because bacteria cannot be differentiated under the microscope; we do not even know the right order of magnitude. Thus, up to a few years ago, discussions of bacterial diversity were unwarranted. However, the development of a phylogenetic system based on rRNA sequences has provided tools to approach bacterial diversity and ecology in situ for the first time.
authors.affiliation: Carlos Pedrós-Alió is at the Marine Sciences Institute, CSIC Passeig Nacional s/n, 08039 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pedrós-Alió