NC_008816:1476209 Prochlorococcus marinus str. AS9601, complete genome
Host Lineage: Prochlorococcus marinus; Prochlorococcus; Prochlorococcaceae; Prochlorales; Cyanobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This cyanobacterium was collected in the Arabian Sea at a depth of 50 meters and isolated by filter fractionation. It belongs to Clade HL-II, the most abundant group in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, often constituting over 90% of the total population. 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.