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Helena Filipsson, foto Erik Thor

Helena Filipsson

Professor

Helena Filipsson, foto Erik Thor

Strain-specific metabarcoding reveals rapid evolution of copper tolerance in populations of the coastal diatom Skeletonema marinoi

Author

  • Björn Andersson
  • Olof Berglund
  • Helena L. Filipsson
  • Olga Kourtchenko
  • Anna Godhe
  • Kerstin Johannesson
  • Mats Töpel
  • Matthew I.M. Pinder
  • Lara Hoepfner
  • Karin Rengefors

Summary, in English

Phytoplankton have short generation times, flexible reproduction strategies, large population sizes and high standing genetic diversity, traits that should facilitate rapid evolution under directional selection. We quantified local adaptation of copper tolerance in a population of the diatom Skeletonema marinoi from a mining-exposed inlet in the Baltic Sea and in a non-exposed population 100 km away. We hypothesized that mining pollution has driven evolution of elevated copper tolerance in the impacted population of S. marinoi. Assays of 58 strains originating from sediment resting stages revealed no difference in the average tolerance to copper between the two populations. However, variation within populations was greater at the mining site, with three strains displaying hyper-tolerant phenotypes. In an artificial evolution experiment, we used a novel intraspecific metabarcoding locus to track selection and quantify fitness of all 58 strains during co-cultivation in one control and one toxic copper treatment. As expected, the hyper-tolerant strains enabled rapid evolution of copper tolerance in the mining-exposed population through selection on available strain diversity. Within 42 days, in each experimental replicate a single strain dominated (30%–99% abundance) but different strains dominated the different treatments. The reference population developed tolerance beyond expectations primarily due to slowly developing plastic response in one strain, suggesting that different modes of copper tolerance are present in the two populations. Our findings provide novel empirical evidence that standing genetic diversity of phytoplankton resting stage allows populations to evolve rapidly (20–50 generations) and flexibly on timescales relevant for seasonal bloom progressions.

Department/s

  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Division aquatic ecology
  • Quaternary Sciences
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate

Publishing year

2023-09-11

Language

English

Publication/Series

Molecular Ecology

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Topic

  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Environmental Sciences

Keywords

  • adaptation
  • copper tolerance
  • diatoms
  • phytoplankton
  • strain metabarcoding
  • strain-selection

Status

Epub

Project

  • Future landscapes depend on their communities - how does a plankton Community adapt to metal contamination

Research group

  • Aquatic Ecology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0962-1083