Ecological specialization in a spatially structured population of the thermophilic cyanobacterium Mastigocladus laminosus.

ABSTRACT: Laboratory evolution experiments suggest the potential for microbial populations to contribute significant ecological variation to ecosystems, yet the functional importance of genetic diversity within natural populations of microorganisms is largely unknown. Here, we investigated the distribution of genetic and phenotypic variation for a population of the cyanobacterium Mastigocladus laminosus distributed along the temperature gradient of White Creek, Yellowstone NP. A total of 153 laboratory strains were directly isolated from five sites with mean annual temperatures ranging between 39 and 54 degrees C. Genetic characterization at four nitrogen metabolism genes identified 15 closely related lineages in the population sample. These lineages were distributed nonrandomly along White Creek, b

SUBMITTER: Miller SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2632158 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature