Diversity of Diazotrophic Unicellular Cyanobacteria in the Tropical North Atlantic Ocean

• Published in: Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Main Authors: Falcón, Luisa I., Cipriano, Frank, Chistoserdov, Andrei Y., Carpenter, Edward J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Society for Microbiology 2002
• Subjects: Ecology; Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology; Food Science; Biotechnology; Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.68.11.5760-5764.2002; https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/AEM.68.11.5760-5764.2002

ABSTRACT We present data on the genetic diversity and phylogenetic affinities of N 2 -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.