Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 21, 2026

Establishment of Microbial Eukaryotic Enrichment Cultures from a Chemically Stratified Antarctic Lake and Assessment of Carbon Fixation Potential
Published on: April 20, 2012
Genomic islands and the ecology and evolution of Prochlorococcus
Maureen L Coleman1, Matthew B Sullivan, Adam C Martiny
1Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 15 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Abstract:
Prochlorococcus ecotypes are a useful system for exploring the origin and function of diversity among closely related microbes. The genetic variability between phenotypically distinct strains that differ by less that 1% in 16S ribosomal RNA sequences occurs mostly in genomic islands. Island genes appear to have been acquired in part by phage-mediated lateral gene transfer, and some are differentially expressed under light and nutrient stress. Furthermore, genome fragments directly recovered from ocean ecosystems indicate that these islands are variable among cooccurring Prochlorococcus cells. Genomic islands in this free-living photoautotroph share features with pathogenicity islands of parasitic bacteria, suggesting a general mechanism for niche differentiation in microbial species.
Related Concept Videos
Prokaryotic Cells
Prokaryotic cells
Comparing Mitochondrial, Chloroplast, and Prokaryotic Genomes
Prokaryotic Cells
Like eukaryotic cells, all prokaryotic cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane, have genetic material in the form of single, circular DNA, a cytoplasm that fills the interior of the cell, and ribosomes that synthesize proteins.
Marine Microbial Ecology
Deep Sea Microbial Ecology

