Sequence diversity and novelty of natural assemblages of picoeukaryotes from the Indian Ocean.

Despite the ecological importance of marine pico-size eukaryotes, the study of their in situ diversity using molecular tools started just a few years ago. These studies have revealed that marine picoeukaryotes are very diverse and include many novel taxa. However, the amount and structure of their phylogenetic diversity and the extent of their sequence novelty still remains poorly known, as a systematic analysis has been seldom attempted.

Microbial community structure in the North Pacific ocean.

We report a ribosomal tag pyrosequencing study of the phylogenetic diversity of Archaea, Bacteria and Eucarya over a depth profile at the Hawaii Ocean Time-Series Station, ALOHA. The V9 region of the SSU rRNA gene was amplified from samples representing the epi- (10 m), meso- (800 m) and bathy- (4400 m) pelagia. The primers used are expected to amplify representatives of approximately 80% of known phylogenetic diversity across all three domains.

A bacterial artificial chromosome library for the Australian saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and its utilization in gene isolation and genome characterization.

Background: Crocodilians (Order Crocodylia) are an ancient vertebrate group of tremendous ecological, social, and evolutionary importance. They are the only extant reptilian members of Archosauria, a monophyletic group that also includes birds, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs. Consequently, crocodilian genomes represent a gateway through which the molecular evolution of avian lineages can be explored.