Microbial seascapes revisited

A remarkable array of new discoveries is emerging from studies of naturally occurring marine microbes. These discoveries originate from novel applicat ions of evolving technologies, ranging from molecular phylogenetics to stab le isotope analyses. to advanced microscopic techniques, to genomics. As a consequence, new perspectives on the natural history of marine microbes, th e inseparable nature of the geological and biological worlds, and a plethor a of unexpected new genotypes, phenotypes and physiologies are now being re vealed. As our observations of naturally occurring microbes become increasi ngly more sophisticated, so will theory. technical applications and predict ive capabilities in microbial ecology.