Single-Cell Genomics Reveals Hundreds of Coexisting Subpopulations in Wild Prochlorococcus
Author(s)
Kashtan, Nadav; Roggen, Sara E.; Rodrigue, Sebastien; Thompson, Jessica Weidemier; Biller, Steven; Coe, Allison; Ding, Huiming; Marttinen, Pekka; Malmstrom, Rex R.; Stocker, Roman; Stepanauskas, Ramunas; Chisholm, Sallie (Penny); Follows, Michael J; Roggensack, Sara; ... Show more Show less
DownloadKashtan_etal_Science2014.pdf (4.057Mb)
PUBLISHER_POLICY
Publisher Policy
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Terms of use
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Extensive genomic diversity within coexisting members of a microbial species has been revealed through selected cultured isolates and metagenomic assemblies. Yet, the cell-by-cell genomic composition of wild uncultured populations of co-occurring cells is largely unknown. In this work, we applied large-scale single-cell genomics to study populations of the globally abundant marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus. We show that they are composed of hundreds of subpopulations with distinct “genomic backbones,” each backbone consisting of a different set of core gene alleles linked to a small distinctive set of flexible genes. These subpopulations are estimated to have diverged at least a few million years ago, suggesting ancient, stable niche partitioning. Such a large set of coexisting subpopulations may be a general feature of free-living bacterial species with huge populations in highly mixed habitats.
Date issued
2014-04Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary SciencesJournal
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation
Kashtan, N., S. E. Roggensack, S. Rodrigue, J. W. Thompson, S. J. Biller, A. Coe, H. Ding, et al. “Single-Cell Genomics Reveals Hundreds of Coexisting Subpopulations in Wild Prochlorococcus.” Science 344, no. 6182 (April 24, 2014): 416–420.
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
0036-8075
1095-9203