Bacterioplankton

Bacterioplankton refers to the bacterial component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word πλανκτος (planktos), meaning "wanderer" or "drifter" (Thurman, 1997), and bacterium, a Latin neologism coined in the 19th century by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. They are found in both seawater and freshwater.

Bacterioplankton occupy a range of ecological niches in marine and aquatic ecosystems. They are both primary producers and primary consumers in these ecosystems and drive global biogeochemical cycling of elements essential for life (e.g., carbon and nitrogen fixation). Many are saprotrophic, and obtain energy by consuming organic material produced by other organisms. This material may be dissolved in the medium and taken directly from there, or bacteria may live and grow in association with particulate material such as marine snow. Many other bacterioplankton species are autotrophic, and derive energy from either photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. The latter are often categorised as picophytoplankton, and include cyanobacterial groups such as Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus. Bacterioplankton play critical roles in global nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification, remineralisation and methanogenesis.

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