Predation, as well as the availability of phosphorus and light, have been shown to be important factors that influence AAPB growth in their natural environments.
There is still a knowledge gap in research areas regarding the abundance and genetic diversity of AAPB, as well as the environmental variables that regulate these two properties.
The color of each species is due to the presence of carotenoids, giving peaks in the blue and green absorption spectra.
LH complexes with unusual absorption maxima have been discovered due to the isolation and characterization of new aerobic phototrophic species.
A new strain of aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria, JF-1, was recently isolated from deep-ocean hydrothermal vent waters.
There are two marine (Erythrobacter and Roseobacter) and six freshwater (Acidiphilium, Erythromicrobium, Blastomonas (synonym: Erythromonas), Porphyrobacter, Roseococcus, and Sandaracinobacter) genera of these bacteria.
[3] AAP bacteria represent a variety of species that belong to subgroups of Alpha-, Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria.
This group of bacteria is divided into six major phyla including Proteobacteria, Chlorobi, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, and Gemmatimonadetes.
AAPB may constitute over 10% of the open ocean microbial community, being particularly abundant in oligotrophic conditions where they were found to make up around 24% of the microbes present.
[9] They are globally distributed in the euphotic zone and represent a hitherto unrecognized component of the marine microbial community that appears to be critical to the cycling of both organic and inorganic carbon in the ocean.
Inoculated plates are prepared in conditions similar to the natural environments of the collected sample to increase survivability of the bacteria.
Aerobic phototrophic species can remain viable for at least 2 months when stored at 4oC in liquid or on agar surfaces.
The removal of predators and this grazing pressure results in a large increase in AAP relative to the other bacteria in the environment.