Collaborative Research: Characterization of Pigments and Ultrastructure of Photosynthetic Ultraplankton in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

光合作用的超浮游生物在初级生产力和生物量方面都占主导地位，特别是在分层水域。然而，人们对真核超浮游生物知之甚少。这种基本信息的缺乏可能是由于它们的体积小、脆弱和对培养努力的抵制。对不同海洋系统中色素的研究表明，有几种丰富的色素无疑来自真核超浮游生物，它们无疑将在分类和鉴定分类群中发挥重要作用。然而，由于缺乏物种定义，没有系统地尝试将这些色素与分类群联系起来。目前尚不清楚这几个记录的实例是否是寡营养系统的特征。pi建议在大西洋和太平洋的不同站点，通过季节来描述海洋超浮游生物种群的特征。他们将使用培养标本的超微结构分析来提供参考材料，并将这些形态实体与它们的色素特征联系起来。所得信息将为海洋超浮游生物的分布、生理生态学和系统学研究提供有价值的信息。

The photosynthetic ultraphytoplankton dominate ocean systems, both in terms of primary productivity and biomass, especially in stratified waters. However, the eukaryotic ultraplankton are only poorly known. This lack of basic information probably results from their small size, fragility, and resistance to culturing efforts. General studies of pigments in diverse oceanic systems reveal several abundant pigments which undoubtedly are from the eukaryotic ultraplankton and they undoubtedly will be of utility in classifying and identifying the taxa. However, there has been no systematic attempt to correlate these pigments with the taxa---a result of lack of species definition. It is unclear whether the few recorded instances are characteristic of the oligotrophic systems. The PIs propose to characterize oceanic ultraplankton populations through the seasons and at a variety of stations in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They will use ultrastructural analyses of cultured specimens to provide reference materials and correlate those morphological entities with their pigment- signatures. The resultant information will provide valuable information for studies on distribution, physiological ecology, and systematics of the oceanic ultraphytoplankton.