Tara Oceans

Eukaryotic microbes, or protists, are key drivers of marine ecosystems, with roles ranging from primary producers (phytoplankton) to consumers (heterotrophs or mixotrophs). As with their bacteria and archaea, many protists are difficult or impossible to culture. This has limited our ability to directly interrogate their biology in the laboratory and has led us to underestimate their diversity across marine ecosystems. Molecular and genomic approaches, particularly those applied to whole, mixed communities (e.

The production and consumption of organic matter by marine organisms plays a central role in the marine carbon cycle. Labile organic compounds (metabolites) are the major currency of energetic demands and organismal interaction, but these compounds …