Electron cryotomographic reconstruction of a C.
merolae cell. n = nucleus; c = chloroplast; p =
peroxisome; er = endoplasmic reticulum. Source
Elio Schaechter has a typically informative and informed post on the smallest eukaryotes, a kind of algae called picoeukaryotes. These guys make up half the biomass of all marine phages. Only known for about five or six years...
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Second lecture notes from my BIO101 class (originally from May 08, 2006). As always, in this post and the others in the series, I need comments - is everything kosher? Any suggestions for improvement?
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BIO 101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 1 - Part 2…
I just read a fascinating "hypothesis" in the latest issue of Nature entitled Introns and the origin of nucleus cytosol compartmentalization.
The greatest divide in the living world exists between prokaryotes and eukaryotes (yes I know, there are viruses ... but lets not get off topic!).
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A lot of people think of viruses and bacteria in our bodies as nothing more than pests. It's certainly true that a lot of them do an excellent job of making us ill. But some viruses and bacteria merged with our ancestors over the course of billions of years, and if you were to have them removed…
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I don't think that you mean phages. Plankton?
John,
Your kind comments gladden out hearts.
Alias Ernest Major,
Yes, we mean phages. See, for example, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_2_164/ai_106290540
John,
Your kind comments gladden out hearts.
Alias Ernest Major,
Yes, we mean phages! See, for example, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_2_164/ai_106290540
I agree with alias Ernest Major that something doesn't quite add up here. An alga (eukaryote) is not a phage (virus that infects bacteria).
The article says that the total mass of picoeukaryotes equals the total mass of phages, not that they are half of the the mass of phages. Like Alias Ernst Major and Stuart I'm under the impression that phages are viruses.
Bacteriophages are a type of virus that attack bacteria. They are usually shortened to just 'phages'. However 'phage' on it's own just translates to 'eater' and could mean something different.
~Lab Rat
Turns out it doesn't. I made a misinterpretation. Picos equal the biomass of phages (viruses).