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Science 9 June 1995:
Vol. 268. no. 5216, pp. 1480 - 1482
DOI: 10.1126/science.268.5216.1480
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Articles

Growth of Prochlorococcus, a Photosynthetic Prokaryote, in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean

Daniel Vaulot 1, Dominique Marie 1, Robert J. Olson 2, and Sallie W. Chisholm 3

1 Station Biologique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unite Propre de Recherche 9042 and Universitb Pierre et Marie Curie, BP 74 29682 Roscoff, France
2 Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
3 Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

The cell cycle of Prochlorococcus, a prokaryote that accounts for a sizable fraction of the photosynthetic biomass in the eastern equatorial Pacific, progressed in phase with the daily light cycle. DNA replication occurred in the afternoon and cell division occurred at night. Growth rates were maximal (about one doubling per day) at 30 meters and decreased toward the surface and the bottom of the ocean. Estimated Prochlorococcus production varied between 174 and 498 milligrams of carbon per square meter per day and accounted for 5 to 19 percent of total gross primary production at the equator. Because Prochlorococcus multiplies close to its maximum possible rate, it is probably not severely nutrient-limited in this region of the oceans.

Submitted on October 18, 1994
Accepted on March 16, 1995


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