Editing Prochlorococcus (section)

==Genome==
The genomes of several strains of ''Prochlorococcus'' have been sequenced.<ref name=Rocap03>{{cite journal|first1=G. |last1=G. Rocap |first2=F.W. |last2=Larimer |first3=J. |last3=Lamerdin |first4=S. |last4=Malfatti |first5=P. |last5=Chain |first6=N.A. |last6=Ahlgren |first7=A. |last7=Arellano |first8=M. |last8=Coleman |first9=L. |last9=Hauser |first10=W.R. |last10=Hess |first11=Z.I. |last11=Johnson |first12=M. |last12=Land |first13=D. |last13=Lindell |author-link13=Debbie Lindell |first14=A.F. |last14=Post |first15=W. |last15=Regala |first16=M. |last16=Shah |first17=S.L. |last17=Shaw |first18=C. |last18=Steglich |first19=M.B. |last19=Sullivan |first20=C.S. |last20=Ting |first21=A. |last21=Tolonen |first22=E.A. |last22=Webb |first23=E.R. |last23=Zinser |first24=S.W. |last24=Chisholm |year=2003 |title=Genome divergence in two ''Prochlorococcus'' ecotypes reflects oceanic niche differentiation |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=424 |pmid=12917642 |issue=6952 |pages=1042–7 |doi=10.1038/nature01947 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01947 |bibcode=2003Natur.424.1042R |s2cid=4344597 }}</ref><ref name=Dufresne03/> Twelve complete genomes have been sequenced which reveal physiologically and genetically distinct lineages of ''Prochlorococcus marinus'' that are 97% similar in the 16S rRNA gene.<ref name="Martiny">{{cite journal|vauthors=Martiny AC, Tai A, Veneziano D, Primeau F, Chisholm S|year=2009|title=Taxonomic resolution, ecotypes and biogeography of ''Prochlorococcus''|journal=[[Environmental Microbiology]]|volume=11|issue=4|pages=823–832|doi=10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01803.x|pmid=19021692|bibcode=2009EnvMi..11..823M |s2cid=25323390 |url=https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2c3638zx |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Research has shown that a massive genome reduction occurred during the Neoproterozoic [[Snowball Earth]], which was followed by [[population bottleneck]]s.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc=10837832 | date=2024 | last1=Zhang | first1=H. | last2=Hellweger | first2=F. L. | last3=Luo | first3=H. | title=Genome reduction occurred in early ''Prochlorococcus'' with an unusually low effective population size | journal=The ISME Journal | volume=18 | issue=1 | pages=wrad035 | doi=10.1093/ismejo/wrad035 | pmid=38365237 }}</ref>

The high-light ecotype has the smallest genome (1,657,990 basepairs, 1,716 genes) of any known oxygenic phototroph, but the genome of the low-light type is much larger (2,410,873 base pairs, 2,275 genes).<ref name=Rocap03/>