Microbial Life in the Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea is a highly oligotrophic marine region and as such the microbial food web is of particular interest for its functioning, especially under conditions of climate change. Structural and functional microbial diversity are the key components to elucidate which microorganisms mediate specific metabolic pathways in certain seasons and depths. Current knowledge on the microbial life of the Aegean Sea water column remains little and fragmented, originating mostly from studies focusing on either specific microbial groups or sub-regions. This leaves us with a highly unbalanced picture on the role of microorganisms in the Aegean Sea. As such, we attempt to gather what is already known by the existing literature and include some recently acquired unpublished data which add to our knowledge on the region’s microbial life. Finally, we propose some future perspectives on research needs regarding to be undertaken aiming at elucidating the full extent of structural and functional microbial diversity of the Aegean Sea.