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Science 25 February 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5713, pp. 1311 - 1313
DOI: 10.1126/science.1106028
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Reports

Genotypic Diversity Within a Natural Coastal Bacterioplankton Population

Janelle R. Thompson,1,2 Sarah Pacocha,1,2 Chanathip Pharino,1 Vanja Klepac-Ceraj,1,2 Dana E. Hunt,1 Jennifer Benoit,1,2 Ramahi Sarma-Rupavtarm,1 Daniel L. Distel,3 Martin F. Polz1*

The genomic diversity and relative importance of distinct genotypes within natural bacterial populations have remained largely unknown. Here, we analyze the diversity and annual dynamics of a group of coastal bacterioplankton (greater than 99% 16S ribosomal RNA identity to Vibrio splendidus). We show that this group consists of at least a thousand distinct genotypes, each occurring at extremely low environmental concentrations (on average less than one cell per milliliter). Overall, the genomes show extensive allelic diversity and size variation. Individual genotypes rarely recurred in samples, and allelic distribution did not show spatial or temporal substructure. Ecological considerations suggest that much genotypic and possibly phenotypic variation within natural populations should be considered neutral.

1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
2 Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
3 Ocean Genome Legacy, New England Biolabs, Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mpolz{at}mit.edu

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