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Genome sequences from the sea

Nature volume 424, pages 1001–1002 (2003)Cite this article

Despite their diminutive stature, phytoplankton have a huge global influence. The genomes of four strains of phytoplankton have now been completely sequenced, revealing their genetic adaptations to distinct marine niches.

With the sequencing of microbial genomes now almost routine in some circles, one could be forgiven for feeling a little jaded. It is possible to lose sight of just how much can be learned from such an exercise. But the reports by Rocap et al.1 and Palenik et al.2 in this issue, along with a paper by Dufresne et al.3 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, powerfully demonstrate how genomic studies can lead to a new understanding of biodiversity, ecology, biological efficiency and biogeochemistry.

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Figure 1: Prochlorococcus: the smallest of the marine phytoplankton, and the genus with the smallest known genomes of any oxygen-generating photosynthetic organism.

C. C. TING/WILLIAMS COLLEGE

Figure 2: Marine cyanophages.

M. SULLIVAN/MIT

References

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences and the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089-0371, California, USA

    Jed Fuhrman

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  1. Jed Fuhrman
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Correspondence to Jed Fuhrman.

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Fuhrman, J. Genome sequences from the sea. Nature 424, 1001–1002 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/4241001a

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