Thaumarchaea

Archaea that contain these genes are now placed within a separate phylogenetic group, the thaumarchaea.

Three exceptions to the bacterial dominance are noteworthy, having increased with the upwelling: Nitrosopumilus maritimus, a thaumarchaea; Thalassiosira pseudonana, a centric diatom; and Ostreococcus lucimarinus, a picoeukaryote (Fig 3, S2 Table).

Previous studies have suggested that, like all microbes, thaumarchaea are infected by viruses and that viral predation has a profound impact on thaumarchaeal functioning and mortality, thereby regulating global biogeochemical cycles.