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

光合作用的超级浮游植物控制着海洋系统， 在初级生产力和生物量方面， 分层的沃茨。 然而，真核超浮游生物只有 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抗力。 对不同海洋系统中色素的一般研究表明， 几种丰富的色素无疑来自真核生物 超浮游生物，毫无疑问，它们将在 分类鉴定。 然而，没有 系统地试图将这些色素与分类群联系起来-a 缺乏物种定义。 目前还不清楚是否 很少有记录的例子是贫营养的特征， 系统. PI建议描述海洋超浮游生物的特征 人口通过季节和在各种站在 大西洋和太平洋。 他们将使用超微结构 分析培养标本以提供参考材料， 将这些形态实体与它们的色素联系起来 签名. 由此产生的信息将提供有价值的 分布、生理生态学研究的信息， 海洋超浮游植物分类学。

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.