Rapid diversification of coevolving marine Synechococcus and a virus.

ABSTRACT: Marine viruses impose a heavy mortality on their host bacteria, whereas at the same time the degree of viral resistance in marine bacteria appears to be high. Antagonistic coevolution--the reciprocal evolutionary change of interacting species--might reconcile these observations, if it leads to rapid and dynamic levels of viral resistance. Here we demonstrate the potential for extensive antagonistic coevolution between the ecologically important marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus and a lytic virus. In a 6-mo-long replicated chemostat experiment, Synechococcus sp. WH7803 and the virus (RIM8) underwent multiple coevolutionary cycles, leading to the rapid diversification of both host and virus. Over the course of the experiment, we detected between 4 and 13 newly evolved viral phenotypes (dif

SUBMITTER: Marston MF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3311363 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature