The unicellular cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus sp. is the most abundant photosynthetic microbe in tropical and subtropical oceans. At least two ecotypes exist: one is adapted to high light and the other to lower light intensities. How does the presence of these two ecotypes contribute to their physiological success and their numerical success? How would you determine the amount of fixed carbon they contribute to these open-ocean ecosystems?

Biology Today and Tomorrow without Physiology (MindTap Course List)
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Chapter4: Energy And Metabolism
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Problem 1DID: The genus Ferroplasma consists of a few species of acid-loving archaea. One species, F. acidarmanus,...
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The unicellular cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus sp. is the most abundant photosynthetic microbe in tropical and subtropical oceans. At least two ecotypes exist: one is adapted to high light and the other to lower light intensities. How does the presence of these two ecotypes contribute to their physiological success and their numerical success? How would you determine the amount of fixed carbon they contribute to these open-ocean ecosystems?

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