The limit of resistance to salinity in the freshwater cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa is modulated by the rate of salinity increase.

ABSTRACT: The overall mean levels of different environmental variables are changing rapidly in the present Anthropocene, in some cases creating lethal conditions for organisms. Under this new scenario, it is crucial to know whether the adaptive potential of organisms allows their survival under different rates of environmental change. Here, we used an eco-evolutionary approach, based on a ratchet protocol, to investigate the effect of environmental change rate on the limit of resistance to salinity of three strains of the toxic cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. Specifically, we performed two ratchet experiments in order to simulate two scenarios of environmental change. In the first scenario, the salinity increase rate was slow (1.5-fold increase), while in the second scenario, the rate

SUBMITTER: Melero-Jimenez IJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7297762 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature