Unlocking the Genomic Taxonomy of the Prochlorococcus Collective.

Unlocking the Genomic Taxonomy of the Prochlorococcus Collective.
Microb Ecol. 2020 May 28;:
Authors: Tschoeke D, Salazar VW, Vidal L, Campeão M, Swings J, Thompson F, Thompson C
Abstract
Prochlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic prokaryote on our planet. The extensive ecological literature on the Prochlorococcus collective (PC) is based on the assumption that it comprises one single genus comprising the species Prochlorococcus marinus, containing itself a collective of ecotypes. Ecologists adopt the distributed genome hypothesis of an open pan-genome to explain the observed genomic diversity and evolution patterns of the ecotypes within PC. Novel genomic data for the PC prompted us to revisit this group, applying the current methods used in genomic taxonomy. As a result, we were able to distinguish the five genera: Prochlorococcus, Eurycolium, Prolificoccus, Thaumococcus, and Riococcus. The novel genera have distinct genomic and ecological attributes.
PMID: 32468160 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Microbial Ecology - May 27, 2020 Category: Microbiology Authors: Tschoeke D, Salazar VW, Vidal L, Campeão M, Swings J, Thompson F, Thompson C Tags: Microb Ecol Source Type: research