Phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea. The milky blue color is likely caused by E. huxleyi, which can grow abundantly up to 50 meters below the ocean surface. The alga’s blooms tend to be triggered by high light levels during the 24-hour sunlight of Arctic summer. (Photo : NASA)
The White Cliffs of Dover have long served as an iconic feature of the England landscape, inspiring songs and movies as well as countless photographs. To scientists, however, they represent much more than a striking backdrop: as a massive conglomeration of the single-celled photosynthetic alga known as Emiliania huxleyi, the cliffs are a monument to the coccolithophore that serves as the basis of most food chains.
Though miniscule in size, phytoplankton biomass exceeds that of all marine animals combined and is constantly affecting climate processes, such as lowering ocean temperatures by reflecting sunlight and through carbon metabolism. Furthermore, its versatility contributes to primary production of organic compounds from carbon dioxide or adds to its emissions make "Ehux" a critical player in the marine carbon cycle.
Given its importance, scientists at the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) went ahead and sequenced the Ehux genome, allowing them to compare its sequences with those from other algal isolates.
Part of the third most abundant group of phytoplankton, the Ehux strain was isolated from the South Pacific and is the first reference genome for coccolithophores. Due to the complexities and size of the genome, the project ended up taking longer than planned: originally estimated to be about 30 million bases, the genome ended up being closer to 141 million.
evolutionary transubstantiation
