Chromophyte Plastid 16s Ribosomal Rna Genes Found in a Clone Library From Atlantic Ocean Seawater

In recent years, the cloning of ribosomal RNA genes from natural plankton communities has provided insight into the biodiversity of marine bacterioplankton. Small eukaryotic phytoplankton, like bacterioplankton, can be difficult to cultivate or identify routinely by morphological characteristics. We used bacteria‐specific 16S rRNA primers to amplify genes from picoplankton samples collected on 0.2–μm filters by filtration from a depth of 10 m in the pelagic region over the continental shelf off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Nucleic acid sequencing and probe hybridization revealed that chromophyte plastid genes comprised 25% of the genes in a library of 170 clones. The plastid genes belonged to two groups within the Chromophyta: the Prymnesiophyceae and the Bacillariophyceae. Comparisons revealed substantial diversity among the bacillariophyte gene sequences, but the species from which the genes originated could not be identified because few sequences from cultured bacillariophytes are available. The prymnesiophyte genes could not be identified either, although they were most similar (similarity = 0.94) to plastid genes from the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi (Lohmann) Hay and Mohler strain PML92D. These results provide evidence of abundant chromophyte plastid 16S rRNA genes in the water over the continental shelf off Cape Hatteras. The results also suggest that plastid 16S rRNA genes may provide suitable genetic markers for studying phytoplankton biodiversity and biogeography.