Species-specific associations between bacterioplankton and photosynthetic picoeukaryotes

We used flow cytometry sorting of raw seawater to identify novel bacterial phylotypes found in physical association with photosynthetic picoeukaryotes. In total, five samples were collected at the Santa Cruz wharf on Monterey Bay during summer and fall, 2014. The phylogeny of associated microbes was assessed through Illumina MiSeq sequencing of amplicons of the 16S rRNA gene from unsorted seawater <10 µm >0.2 µm as well as triplicate samples of 1000 sorted photosynthetic picoeukaryote cells.