Picoeukaryote

For example, Ostreococcus tauri, an autotrophic picoeukaryote belonging to the class Mamiellophyceae, contains only the nucleus, one mitochondrion and one chloroplast, tightly packed within a cell membrane.

[9] In more oligotrophic environments, such as Station ALOHA, researchers believe that approximately 80% of the chlorophyll α biomass is due to cells in the pico-size range.

[13] Recent fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) experiments have shown that picoeukaryotes are fairly abundant in the deep sea.

[17] Moreover, nitrogen enrichment experiments suggest that picoeukaryotes have an advantage over larger cells when it comes to acquiring nutrients because of their large surface area per unit volume.

[8] Photosynthetic picoeukaryotes, much like other planktonic species in the ocean photic zone, are exposed to light variations during the diel cycle and due to vertical displacement in the mixed layer of the water column.

Photosynthetic picoplankton off the Marquesas Islands observed by epifluorescence microscopy (blue exciting light). Orange fluorescing dots correspond to Synechococcus cyanobacteria , red fluorescing dots to picoeukaryotes.