Eukaryotic Phytoplankton Contributing to a Seasonal Bloom and Carbon Export Revealed by Tracking Sequence Variants in the Western North Pacific.

ABSTRACT: Greater diversity of eukaryotic phytoplankton than expected has been revealed recently through molecular techniques, but little is known about their temporal dynamics or fate in the open ocean. Here, we examined size-fractionated eukaryotic phytoplankton communities from the surface to abyssopelagic zone (5,000 m) throughout the year, by tracking sequence variants of the 18S rRNA gene in the western subtropical North Pacific. The oceanographic conditions were divided into two periods, stratification and mixing, between which the surface phytoplankton community differed. During the mixing period, the abundance of large phytoplankton (≥3 μm) increased, with diatoms and putative Pseudoscourfieldia marina dominating this fraction. Picophytoplankton (<3 μm) also increased during the mixi

SUBMITTER: Shiozaki T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6902033 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature