Prochlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic prokaryote on our planet. The extensive ecological literature on the Prochlorococcus collective (PC) is based on the assumption that it comprises one single genus comprising the species Prochlorococcus marinus, containing itself a collective of ecotypes. Ecologists adopt the distributed genome hypothesis of an open pan-genome to explain the observed genomic diversity and evolution patterns of the ecotypes within PC. Novel genomic data for the PC prompted us to revisit this group, applying the current methods used in genomic taxonomy. As a result, we were able to distinguish the five genera: Prochlorococcus, Eurycolium, Prolificoccus, Thaumococcus, and Riococcus. The novel genera have distinct genomic and ecological attributes.

原绿球菌是我们星球上最丰富的光合原核生物。关于Prochlorococcus集体（PC）的广泛的生态文献是基于这样的假设，即它由一个单一属组成，该单一属包括Marprochlorococcus marinus物种，并自身具有一组生态型。生态学家采用开放泛基因组的分布式基因组假设来解释PC内观察到的基因组多样性和生态型的进化模式。适用于PC的新颖基因组数据促使我们使用基因组分类法中使用的当前方法重新访问该小组。其结果是，我们能够区分五个属：绿球藻，Eurycolium，Prolificoccus，球菌和球菌。该新属具有独特的基因组和生态属性。