A group of local scientists has decoded the genome structure of marine planktons.

The research team led by Professor Yoon Hwan-soo of Sungkyunkwan University announced on Monday that it had successfully mapped out the genome structure by studying three marine picobiliphyte cells.

Yoon said the recent study will be used to research the eating patterns of plankton and analyze the ecosystem’s food chain.

The study was published in a recent edition of U.S. based "Science" magazine.