Nitrogen availability shapes evolution of phage resistance in cyanobacteria.

ABSTRACT: Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria play a key role in nitrogen and carbon biogeochemical cycles in aquatic ecosystems. Under nitrogen-limited conditions, their ability to fix nitrogen provides an advantage over other species and enables them to form harmful blooms, which are increasing in frequency and negatively impact aquatic environments. Cyanophages (viruses infecting cyanobacteria) impose strong selective pressures on these populations, and although cyanobacteria can rapidly evolve resistance to these phages, there is a tradeoff between phage resistance and nitrogen fixation. Therefore, it remains unclear whether nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria can evolve resistance without compromising nitrogen fixation under bloom-inducing nitrogen starvation. Here, we explore the evolution of phage resist

SUBMITTER: Higazi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12507012 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature