Fig. 2: Fitness-relevant parameters of H. pluvialis populations with a manipulated phenotypic composition in response to standard and stress conditions.

Growth and survival rates of four populations of different phenotypic composition were evaluated, i.e., Mobile, M8NM2, M2NM8, Non-mobile. a Growth of four populations under standard conditions over a period of 11 days. b Survival rate of four populations under salinity stress (300 mM NaCl). c Survival rate of four populations under oxidative stress (1 mM H₂O₂). d Survival rate of four populations under drought stress (immediate desiccation). All three survival rate assays under stress conditions lasted for 10 days. The graphs show the mean ± standard deviation of the triplicate values. Different letters on each graph represent statistical significance (p < 0.05), calculated by one-way ANOVAs with Tukey’s HSD post-hoc analyses across all four populations. Line segments and asterisks in c indicate statistical significance calculated by one-way ANOVA without the Non-mobile treatment. Mobile (mobile cells only, green), M8NM2 (80% mobile and 20% non-mobile cells, yellow), M2NM8 (20% mobile and 80% non-mobile cells, purple), and Non-mobile (non-mobile cells only, blue). Significance: ns (no significance), *(p < 0.05), **(p < 0.01), ***(p < 0.001), ****(p < 0.0001). Source data is provided as a Source Data file.