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Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology
Published on: November 5, 2014
Single-cell genomics reveals organismal interactions in uncultivated marine protists
Hwan Su Yoon1, Dana C Price, Ramunas Stepanauskas
1Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575, USA.
Abstract:
Whole-genome shotgun sequence data from three individual cells isolated from seawater, followed by analysis of ribosomal DNA, indicated that the cells represented three divergent clades of picobiliphytes. In contrast with the recent description of this phylum, we found no evidence of plastid DNA nor of nuclear-encoded plastid-targeted proteins, which suggests that these picobiliphytes are heterotrophs. Genome data from one cell were dominated by sequences from a widespread single-stranded DNA virus. This virus was absent from the other two cells, both of which contained non-eukaryote DNA derived from marine Bacteroidetes and large DNA viruses. By using shotgun sequencing of uncultured marine picobiliphytes, we revealed the distinct interactions of individual cells.
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