Abstract
Genetic diversity is what selection acts on, thus shaping the adaptive potential of populations. We studied micro-evolutionary patterns of the key planktonic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata at a long-term sampling site over 2 consecutive years by genotyping isolates with 22 microsatellite markers. We show that both sex and vegetative growth interplay in shaping intraspecific diversity. We document a brief but massive demographic and clonal expansion driven by strains of the same mating type. The analysis of an extended data set (6 years) indicates that the genetic fingerprint of P. multistriata changed over time with a nonlinear pattern, with intermittent periods of weak and strong diversification related to the temporary predominance of clonal expansions over sexual recombination. These dynamics, rarely documented for phytoplankton, contribute to the understanding of bloom formation and of the mechanisms that drive microevolution in diatoms.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Carmen Minucci for technical help in genotyping; Eleonora Scalco and Christophe Legrand for providing additional data on mating types; Diana Sarno for providing cell abundance data for P. multistriata; Augusto Passarelli for providing physical-chemical data at LTER-MC; the Molecular Biology and Bioinformatic Unit for sequencing and the Monitoring and Environmental Data Unit (MEDA) for sampling. The study was funded by Flagship Project RITMARE—The Italian Research for the Sea—coordinated by the Italian National Research Council and funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research within the National Research Program 2011–2013; LV was supported by a PhD fellowship from Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN).
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Ruggiero, M., D'Alelio, D., Ferrante, M. et al. Clonal expansion behind a marine diatom bloom. ISME J 12, 463–472 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.181
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.181
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