Lack of phylogeographic structure in the freshwater cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa suggests global dispersal.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Free-living microorganisms have long been assumed to have ubiquitous distributions with little biogeographic signature because they typically exhibit high dispersal potential and large population sizes. However, molecular data provide contrasting results and it is far from clear to what extent dispersal limitation determines geographic structuring of microbial populations. We aimed to determine biogeographical patterns of the bloom-forming freshwater cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. Being widely distributed on a global scale but patchily on a regional scale, this prokaryote is an ideal model organism to study microbial dispersal and biogeography.

Methodology/principal findings

The phylogeography of M. aeruginosa was studied based on a dataset of 311 rDNA int

SUBMITTER: van Gremberghe I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3088681 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature