I've read conflicting reports as to what is considered the most abundant bacterial species on Earth.
I used to think that it was Pelagibacter ubique. Recent reports (like this one in Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6182/416.full) suggest that it may actually be some kind of Prochlorococcus. They say that Prochlorococcus is the most abundant genus of photosynthetic bacteria in the oceans, so that's one distinction, but I had thought that the Pelagibacter species were just more abundant in general (see this Nature paper: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v420/n6917/full/nature01240.html).
Is this just a discrepancy between estimates? How reliable are the claims of "most abundant bacteria," really?
SAR11-clade organisms (aka Pelagibacter) and MGI archaea are about tied for most abundant cells on earth. Each has a estimated global population of ca. 10^28 cells. Prochlorococcus' distribution is fairly limited to warmer climates. SAR11 & MGI are found just about everywhere. The claims are based on the quality of the data used to make them and are probably pretty accurate. The bigger question is "why are they the most abundant?"
SAR11-clade organisms (aka Pelagibacter) and MGI archaea are about tied for most abundant cells on earth. Each has a estimated global population of ca. 10^28 cells. Prochlorococcus' distribution is fairly limited to warmer climates. SAR11 & MGI are found just about everywhere. The claims are based on the quality of the data used to make them and are probably pretty accurate. The bigger question is "why are they the most abundant?"
Perhaps, Pelagibacter ubique is the most abundant bacteria in the world.
The abundance and spread of marine bacteria species depend on several conditions and scientific temporal data available and thus it's obvious to consider that there's one kind of abundant marine bacteria but abundant marine communities of bacteria
Also don’t forget the phototrophic sulphur bacteria’s such as Chromatium sp., Chlorobium sp. and Thiocapsa sp. (Chromatiaceae and Chlorobiaceae) from anoxic deep waters. Especially from the biggest anoxic basin Black Sea.!
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