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Updated: May 13, 2026
10:43
Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology
Published on: November 5, 2014
Evidence for a persistent microbial seed bank throughout the global ocean
Sean M Gibbons1, J Gregory Caporaso, Meg Pirrung
1Graduate Program in Biophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Summary
Marine bacteria do not show clear endemism. A single English Channel site captured significant global bacterial diversity, suggesting a persistent microbial seed bank exists in the oceans.
Area of Science:
- Marine microbiology
- Bacterial community ecology
- Phylogenetic diversity
Background:
- Investigating bacterial endemism versus global distribution is crucial for understanding marine microbial ecology.
- Previous studies lacked comprehensive global comparisons of deep-sea bacterial communities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if bacterial taxa exhibit geographic endemism comparable to macroorganisms.
- To assess the phylogenetic diversity of a single deep-sea bacterial community against global datasets.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of deep bacterial community data (L4-DeepSeq) from the English Channel.
- Utilized 356 global datasets from the International Census of Marine Microbes (ICoMM).
- Examined phylogenetic overlap and extrapolated sequencing depth requirements.
Main Results:
- The L4-DeepSeq site exhibited substantial phylogenetic overlap with global ICoMM data.
- This single site contained 31.7-66.2% of operational taxonomic units found in various ICoMM biomes.
- Extrapolation suggests a finite sequencing depth could capture all known marine bacterial diversity.
Conclusions:
- Marine bacterial communities may not be geographically endemic.
- Evidence supports the existence of a persistent, globally distributed microbial seed bank.
- Technological advancements may soon allow comprehensive sampling of marine microbial diversity.
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