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Picoeukaryote
Picoeukaryotes are picoplanktonic eukaryotic organisms 3.0 µm or less in size. They are distributed throughout the world's marine and freshwater ecosystems and constitute a significant contribution to autotrophic communities. Though the SI prefix pico- might imply an organism smaller than atomic size, the term was likely used to avoid confusion with existing size classifications of plankton. Characteristics Cell structure Picoeukaryotes can be either autotrophic and heterotrophic, and usually contain a minimal number of organelles. For example, ''Ostreococcus tauri'', an autotrophic picoeukaryote belonging to the class Prasinophyceae, contains only the nucleus, one mitochondrion and one chloroplast, tightly packed within a cell membrane. Members of a heterotrophic class, the Bicosoecida, similarly contain only two mitochondria, one food vacuole and a nucleus. Distributions These organisms are found throughout the water columns. Autotrophic picoeukaryotes are restr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photosynthetic Picoplankton
Photosynthetic picoplankton or picophytoplankton is the fraction of the phytoplankton performing photosynthesis composed of cells between 0.2 and 2 µm in size (picoplankton). It is especially important in the central oligotrophic regions of the world oceans that have very low concentration of nutrients. History * 1952: Description of the first truly picoplanktonic species, ''Chromulina pusilla'', by Butcher.Butcher, R. (1952). Contributions to our knowledge of the smaller marine algae. ''Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK'' 31: 175-91. This species was renamed in 1960 to ''Micromonas pusilla''Manton, I. & Parke, M. (1960). Further observations on small green flagellates with special reference to possible relatives of ''Chromulina pusilla'' Butcher. ''Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK'' 39: 275-98. and a few studies have found it to be abundant in temperate oceanic waters, although very little such quantification data exists for euk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prasinophyceae
The prasinophytes are a group of unicellular green algae. Prasinophytes mainly include marine planktonic species, as well as some freshwater representatives.Sym, S. D. and Pienaar, R. N. 1993. The class Prasinophyceae. In Round, F. E. and Chapman, D. J. (eds) ''Progress in Phycological Research'', Vol. 9. Biopress Ltd., Bristol, pp. 281-376. The prasinophytes are morphologically diverse, including flagellates with one to eight flagella and non-motile (coccoid) unicells. The cells of many species are covered with organic body scales; others are naked. Well studied genera include ''Ostreococcus'', considered to be the smallest (ca. 0.95 μm) free-living eukaryote, and ''Micromonas'', both of which are found in marine waters worldwide. Prasinophytes have simple cellular structures, containing a single chloroplast and a single mitochondrion. The genomes are relatively small compared to other eukaryotes (about 12 Mbp for ''Ostreococcus'' and 21 Mbp for ''Micromonas''). At least one spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eukaryote
Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacteria and Archaea (both prokaryotes) make up the other two domains. The eukaryotes are usually now regarded as having emerged in the Archaea or as a sister of the Asgard archaea. This implies that there are only two domains of life, Bacteria and Archaea, with eukaryotes incorporated among archaea. Eukaryotes represent a small minority of the number of organisms, but, due to their generally much larger size, their collective global biomass is estimated to be about equal to that of prokaryotes. Eukaryotes emerged approximately 2.3–1.8 billion years ago, during the Proterozoic eon, likely as flagellated phagotrophs. Their name comes from the Greek εὖ (''eu'', "well" or "good") and κάρυον (''karyon'', "nut" or "kernel"). Euka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitochondrion
A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used throughout the cell as a source of chemical energy. They were discovered by Albert von Kölliker in 1857 in the voluntary muscles of insects. The term ''mitochondrion'' was coined by Carl Benda in 1898. The mitochondrion is popularly nicknamed the "powerhouse of the cell", a phrase coined by Philip Siekevitz in a 1957 article of the same name. Some cells in some multicellular organisms lack mitochondria (for example, mature mammalian red blood cells). A large number of unicellular organisms, such as microsporidia, parabasalids and diplomonads, have reduced or transformed their mitochondria into other structures. One eukaryote, ''Monocercomonoides'', is known to have completely lost its mitochondria, and one multicellular organism, '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primary Productivity
In ecology, primary production is the synthesis of organic compounds from atmospheric or aqueous carbon dioxide. It principally occurs through the process of photosynthesis, which uses light as its source of energy, but it also occurs through chemosynthesis, which uses the oxidation or reduction of inorganic chemical compounds as its source of energy. Almost all life on Earth relies directly or indirectly on primary production. The organisms responsible for primary production are known as ''primary producers'' or autotrophs, and form the base of the food chain. In terrestrial ecoregions, these are mainly plants, while in aquatic ecoregions algae predominate in this role. Ecologists distinguish primary production as either ''net'' or ''gross'', the former accounting for losses to processes such as cellular respiration, the latter not. Overview Primary production is the production of chemical energy in organic compounds by living organisms. The main source of this energy is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haptophyceae
The haptophytes, classified either as the Haptophyta, Haptophytina or Prymnesiophyta (named for ''Prymnesium''), are a clade of algae. The names Haptophyceae or Prymnesiophyceae are sometimes used instead. This ending implies classification at the class rank rather than as a division. Although the phylogenetics of this group has become much better understood in recent years, there remains some dispute over which rank is most appropriate. Characteristics The chloroplasts are pigmented similarly to those of the heterokonts, but the structure of the rest of the cell is different, so it may be that they are a separate line whose chloroplasts are derived from similar red algal endosymbionts. The cells typically have two slightly unequal flagella, both of which are smooth, and a unique organelle called a ''haptonema'', which is superficially similar to a flagellum but differs in the arrangement of microtubules and in its use. The name comes from the Greek ''hapsis'', touch, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Algae
The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as sister of the Zygnematophyceae. Since the realization that the Embryophytes emerged within the green algae, some authors are starting to properly include them. The completed clade that includes both green algae and embryophytes is monophyletic and is referred to as the clade Viridiplantae and as the kingdom Plantae. The green algae include unicellular and colonial flagellates, most with two flagella per cell, as well as various colonial, coccoid and filamentous forms, and macroscopic, multicellular seaweeds. There are about 22,000 species of green algae. Many species live most of their lives as single cells, while other species form coenobia (colonies), long filaments, or highly differentiated macroscopic seaweeds. A few other organi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autotrophic
An autotroph or primary producer is an organism that produces complex organic compounds (such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) using carbon from simple substances such as carbon dioxide,Morris, J. et al. (2019). "Biology: How Life Works", 3rd edition, W. H. Freeman. generally using energy from light (photosynthesis) or inorganic chemical reactions (chemosynthesis). They convert an abiotic source of energy (e.g. light) into energy stored in organic compounds, which can be used by other organisms (e.g. heterotrophs). Autotrophs do not need a living source of carbon or energy and are the producers in a food chain, such as plants on land or algae in water (in contrast to heterotrophs as consumers of autotrophs or other heterotrophs). Autotrophs can reduce carbon dioxide to make organic compounds for biosynthesis and as stored chemical fuel. Most autotrophs use water as the reducing agent, but some can use other hydrogen compounds such as hydrogen sulfide. The primary produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liter
The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). A cubic decimetre (or litre) occupies a volume of (see figure) and is thus equal to one-thousandth of a cubic metre. The original French metric system used the litre as a base unit. The word ''litre'' is derived from an older French unit, the '' litron'', whose name came from Byzantine Greek—where it was a unit of weight, not volume—via Late Medieval Latin, and which equalled approximately 0.831 litres. The litre was also used in several subsequent versions of the metric system and is accepted for use with the SI,Bureau International des Poids et M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrothermal Vents
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal deposits are rocks and mineral ore deposits formed by the action of hydrothermal vents. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both geologically active and has large amounts of water on its surface and within its crust. Under the sea, they may form features called black smokers or white smokers. Relative to the majority of the deep sea, the areas around hydrothermal vents are biologically more productive, often hosting complex communities fueled by the chemicals dissolved in the vent fluids. Chemosynthetic bacteria and Archaea form the base of the food chain, supporting diverse organisms, including giant tube worms, clams, limpets and shrimp. Active hydrothermal vents are thought to exist on Jupiter's moon Europa an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Oceania in the west and the Americas in the east. At in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, larger than Earth's entire land area combined .Pacific Ocean . '' Britannica Concise.'' 2008: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The centers of both the |
Deep Chlorophyll Maximum
The deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM), also called the subsurface chlorophyll maximum, is the region below the surface of water with the maximum concentration of chlorophyll. The DCM generally exists at the same depth as the nutricline, the region of the ocean where the greatest change in the nutrient concentration occurs with depth. A DCM is not always present - sometimes there is more chlorophyll at the surface than at any greater depth - but it is a common feature of most aquatic ecosystems, especially in regions of strong thermal stratification. The depth, thickness, intensity, composition, and persistence of DCMs vary widely. A common way of determining the DCM is through the use of a CTD rosette, an underwater instrument that measures various parameters of water at specific depths. The location and formation of the DCM depends on multiple factors, such as the resident organisms' nutritional needs and light availability. Some organisms have adapted to lower levels of light thro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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