Abstract
Local niche occupancy of marine Synechococcus lineages is facilitated by lateral gene transfers. Genomic islands act as repositories for these transferred genes.
Highlights
The picocyanobacterial genus Synechococcus occurs over wide oceanic expanses, having colonized most available niches in the photic zone
Genomes range in size from 2.22 to approximately 2.86 Mbp and GC contents vary from 52.5% to 66.0%. This relatively small range of variation in genome characteristics is strikingly different from that observed in the Prochlorococcus genus, in which genome size varies between 1.64 and 2.68 Mbp, whilst GC content varies between 30.8% and 50.7% [23]
Comparative genomics on a large set of Synechococcus isolates allowed us to precisely define the core genome and enlightened us to the considerable flexibility of the accessory genome in this group, which is due in large part to a highly variable number of unique genes, preferentially located in islands
Summary
The picocyanobacterial genus Synechococcus occurs over wide oceanic expanses, having colonized most available niches in the photic zone. Unicellular picocyanobacteria of the genera Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus contribute significantly to global oceanic chlorophyll biomass and primary production and play an important role in biogeochemical cycles [1,2,3]. Despite their close phylogenetic relatedness, these two groups differ markedly in their light-harvesting apparatus and nutrient physiology and, ecological performance [4]. Distinct clades displaying different vertical depth distributions occur in the latter genus, explaining its wider vertical distribution in oceanic waters relative to Synechococcus [10]. Some clades are confined to high latitude, temperate waters (for example, clades I and IV), while others preferentially thrive at lower latitudes in warm, permanently stratified oceanic waters (for example, clades II and III [19,20,21])
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