Eukaryotic plankton diversity in the sunlit ocean

Marine plankton support global biological and geochemical processes. Surveys of their biodiversity have hitherto been geographically restricted and have not accounted for the full range of plankton size. We assessed eukaryotic diversity from 334 size-fractionated photic-zone plankton communities collected across tropical and temperate oceans during the circumglobal Tara Oceans expedition. We analyzed 18S ribosomal DNA sequences across the intermediate plankton-size spectrum from the smallest unicellular eukaryotes (protists, >0.8 micrometers) to small animals of a few millimeters. Eukaryotic ribosomal diversity saturated at ~150,000 operational taxonomic units, about one-third of which could not be assigned to…

• GA
  Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
• EM
  European Molecular Biology Laboratory
• AN
  Agence Nationale de la Recherche
• KL
  KU Leuven
• VI
  Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie
• CN
  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
• MD
  Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación

  Award: CGL2011-26848/BOS
• SZ
  Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
• MC
  Medical Center, University of Pittsburgh
• JS
  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

  Award: 26430184
• HE
  H2020 European Research Council