Heterotrophic picoplankton

Heterotrophic picoplankton is the fraction of plankton composed by cells between 0.2 and 2 μm that do not perform photosynthesis. They form an important component of many biogeochemical cycles.[1]

Cells can be either:

  • prokaryotes
    Main article: Bacterioplankton

Archaea form a major part of the picoplankton in the Antarctic and are abundant in other regions of the ocean.[2] Archaea have also been found in freshwater picoplankton, but do not appear to be so abundant in these environments.[3]

  1. ^ Sommaruga, Ruben; Robarts, Richard D (2006-01-17). "The significance of autotrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton in hypertrophic ecosystems". FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 24 (3): 187–200. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6941.1997.tb00436.x. ISSN 0168-6496.
  2. ^ Delong, E.F.; Wu, K.Y.; Prezelin, B.B.; Jovine, R.V.M. (1994). "High Abundance of Archaea in Antarctic Marine Picoplankton". Nature. 371 (6499): 695–697. Bibcode:1994Natur.371..695D. doi:10.1038/371695a0. PMID 7935813. S2CID 41491482.
  3. ^ Keough, B.P.; Schmidt, T.M.; Hicks, R.E. (2003). "Archaeal Nucleic Acids in Picoplankton from Great Lakes on Three Continents". Microbial Ecology. 46 (2): 238–248. doi:10.1007/s00248-003-1003-1. PMID 14708748. S2CID 2456459.