Over the past two decades flow and imaging cytometry has led the ability to rapidly enumerate, classify, and sort microbes/plankton from environmental and experimental samples. These tools are essential for determining ecosystem function, biomass, and the role of these particles in both freshwater and marine environments. Recent innovations including spectral flow cytometry, imaging cell sorting, and in-situ based platforms now enable continuous, monitoring cells without preservation; allowing for cell detection at higher resolution and with greater frequency, for example, at long term ecological monitoring sites.  The ability to detect and link the phenome to the genome within aquatic microbes has been essential for determining the rates of aquatic processes (eg. respiration) at single-cell resolution. Spectral flow cytometry, in particular, offers unprecedented access to high-dimensional fluorescence data, facilitating the identification and characterization of diverse microbial communities and their ecological functions.

This session will highlight the science and instrumentation developed or augmented to allow for better particle/cell characterization, detection and isolation.  We encourage presentations on the application of these technologies to characterize images, autofluorescence (eg. pigments), novel fluorochromes and advanced multi-parametric data analysis approaches to resolve aquatic microbe diversity and function across diverse habitats and seasonal dynamics.

• Marine Ecology and Biodiversity -
• Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry -
• Ocean Technologies and Observatories -