Query: NC_009482:2109270 Synechococcus sp. RCC307 chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Synechococcus; Synechococcus; Synechococcaceae; Chroococcales; Cyanobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Marine Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus are the most abundant photosynthetic organisms on earth and between them account for about half of the world's photosynthesis. RCC307 is an oceanic Synechococcus strain which presents great phylogenetic interest because trees obtained using its 16S RNA gene seem to indicate that it is rooted at the base of the radiation of marine cyanobacteria. This strain was isolated from seawater taken at a depth of 15 meters from the Mediterranean Sea.
Subject: NC_009091:1598044 Prochlorococcus marinus str. MIT 9301, complete genome
Lineage: Prochlorococcus marinus; Prochlorococcus; Prochlorococcaceae; Prochlorales; Cyanobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This strain was isolated from the Sargasso Sea at a depth of 90 m (34o 45.5'N; 66o 11.1'W). This strain belongs to the 'high light-adapted' ecotype, clade II, and has a low Chl b/a2 ratio. Marine cyanobacterium. This non-motile bacterium is a free-living marine organism that is one of the most abundant, as well as the smallest, on earth, and contributes heavily to carbon cycling in the marine environment. This cyanobacterium grows in areas of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation and is unique in that it utilizes divinyl chlorophyll a/b proteins as light-harvesting systems instead of phycobiliproteins. These pigments allow harvesting of light energy from blue wavelengths at low light intensity.