Diversity and distribution of the eukaryotic picoplankton in the oxygen minimum zone of the tropical Mexican Pacific.

ABSTRACT: The ecology of eukaryotic picoplankton in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) is crucial to understand global primary production, trophic dynamics and plankton diversity. This study analyses picoeukaryotic diversity and distribution patterns along the water column at two locations (slope and oceanic) in the tropical Mexican Pacific OMZ using metabarcoding and flow cytometry. Well-known groups of Chlorophytes (Mamiellophyceae) and Ochrophytes (Chrysophyceae, Dictyochophyceae, Pelagophyceae) occurred in high relative abundances, whereas less-known groups such as Chloropicophyceae and Prasinodermophyta were found in lower abundances. Picoeukaryotic diversity was higher at the lower end of the oxycline (10 μM O₂) than at the surface and subsurface layers. Differential distributions of picoe

SUBMITTER: Hernandez-Becerril DU 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11879187 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar-Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature