Seasonal environmental variability drives microdiversity within a coastal Synechococcus population.

ABSTRACT: Marine microbes often show a high degree of physiological or ecological diversity below the species level. This microdiversity raises questions about the processes that drive diversification and permit coexistence of diverse yet closely related marine microbes, especially given the theoretical efficiency of competitive exclusion. Here, we provide insight with an 8-year time series of diversity within Synechococcus, a widespread and important marine picophytoplankter. The population of Synechococcus on the Northeast U.S. Shelf is comprised of six main types, each of which displays a distinct and consistent seasonal pattern. With compositional data analysis, we show that these patterns can be reproduced with a simple model that couples differential responses to temperature and light with the

SUBMITTER: Hunter-Cevera KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8456951 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature