Idiosyncratic genome evolution of the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus at the limits of phototrophy.

ABSTRACT: Thermophilic microorganisms are expected to have smaller cells and genomes compared with mesophiles, a higher proportion of horizontally acquired genes, and distinct nucleotide and amino acid composition signatures. Here, we took an integrative approach to investigate these apparent correlates of thermophily for Synechococcus A/B cyanobacteria, which include the most heat-tolerant phototrophs on the planet. Phylogenomics confirmed a unique origin of different thermotolerance ecotypes, with low levels of continued gene flow between ecologically divergent but overlapping populations, which has shaped the distribution of phenotypic traits along these geothermal gradients. More thermotolerant strains do have smaller genomes, but genome reduction is associated with a decrease in community richn

SUBMITTER: Pierpont CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11456837 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature