The enigmatic SAR202 cluster up close: shedding light on a globally distributed dark ocean lineage involved in sulfur cycling.

ABSTRACT: The dark ocean microbiota represents the unknown majority in the global ocean waters. The SAR202 cluster belonging to the phylum Chloroflexi was the first microbial lineage discovered to specifically inhabit the aphotic realm, where they are abundant and globally distributed. The absence of SAR202 cultured representatives is a significant bottleneck towards understanding their metabolic capacities and role in the marine environment. In this work, we use a combination of metagenome-assembled genomes from deep-sea datasets and publicly available single-cell genomes to construct a genomic perspective of SAR202 phylogeny, metabolism and biogeography. Our results suggest that SAR202 cluster members are medium sized, free-living cells with a heterotrophic lifestyle, broadly divided into two dist

SUBMITTER: Mehrshad M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5864207 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature