Use of stable isotope-labelled cells to identify active grazers of picocyanobacteria in ocean surface waters.

ABSTRACT: Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are the two most abundant marine cyanobacteria. They represent a significant fraction of the total primary production of the world oceans and comprise a major fraction of the prey biomass available to phagotrophic protists. Despite relatively rapid growth rates, picocyanobacterial cell densities in open-ocean surface waters remain fairly constant, implying steady mortality due to viral infection and consumption by predators. There have been several studies on grazing by specific protists on Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus in culture, and of cell loss rates due to overall grazing in the field. However, the specific sources of mortality of these primary producers in the wild remain unknown. Here, we use a modification of the RNA stable isotope probing tech

SUBMITTER: Frias-Lopez J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2702499 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature