Leslie Pray | Oct 14, 2001 | 6 min read
Last year, scientists discovered a unique, energy-generating, light-absorbing protein previously unknown to exist in oceanic life. They named the protein proteorhodopsin.1 The bacteria that harbor it are a distinct phylogenetic group known as SAR86. This year, scientists learned that as much as 10 percent of the ocean's surface is occupied by these proteorhodopsin-containing bacteria--as many as 1x105 cells per milliliter of sea water.2 The researchers, led by marine microbiologist Edward DeLo