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Genetic diversity is the basis for evolutionary adaptation and selection under changing environmental conditions. Phytoplankton populations are genotypically diverse, can become genetically differentiated within small spatiotemporal scales and many species form resting stages. Resting stage accumulations in sediments (seed banks) are expected to serve as reservoirs for genetic information, but so far their role in maintaining phytoplankton diversity and in evolution has remained unclear. In this study we used the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii (Dinophyceae) as a model organism to investigate if (i) the benthic seed bank is more diverse than the pelagic population and (ii) the pelagic population is seasonally differentiated. Resting stages (benthic) and plankton (pelagic) samples were collected at a coastal bloom site in the Baltic Sea, followed by cell isolation and genotyping using microsatellite markers (MS) and restriction site associated DNA sequencing (RAD). High clonal diversity (98%–100%) combined with intermediate to low gene diversity (0.58–0.03, depending on the marker) was found. Surprisingly, the benthic and pelagic fractions of the population were equally diverse, and the pelagic fraction was temporally homogeneous, despite seasonal fluctuation of environmental selection pressures. The results of this study suggest that continuous benthic–pelagic coupling, combined with frequent sexual reproduction, as indicated by persistent linkage equilibrium, prevent the dominance of single clonal lineages in a dynamic environment. Both processes harmonize the pelagic with the benthic population and thus prevent seasonal population differentiation. At the same time, frequent sexual reproduction and benthic–pelagic coupling maintain high clonal diversity in both habitats.

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Sassenhagen, I., Erdner, D., Lougheed, B., Richlen, M., & SjÖqvist, C. Estimating genotypic richness and proportion of identical multi-locus genotypes in aquatic microalgal populations. Journal of Plankton Research, 44(4), (2022): 559-572, https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbac034., The majority of microalgal species reproduce asexually, yet population genetic studies rarely find identical multi-locus genotypes (MLG) in microalgal blooms. Instead, population genetic studies identify large genotypic diversity in most microalgal species. This paradox of frequent asexual reproduction but low number of identical genotypes hampers interpretations of microalgal genotypic diversity. We present a computer model for estimating, for the first time, the number of distinct MLGs by simulating microalgal population composition after defined exponential growth periods. The simulations highlighted the effects of initial genotypic diversity, sample size and intraspecific differences in growth rates on the probability of isolating identical genotypes. We estimated the genotypic richness for five natural microalgal species with available high-resolution population genetic data and monitoring-based growth rates, indicating 500 000 to 2 000 000 distinct genotypes for species with few observed clonal replicates (<5%). Furthermore, our simulations indicated high variability in genotypic richness over time and among microalgal species. Genotypic richness was also strongly impacted by intraspecific variability in growth rates. The probability of finding identical MLGs and sampling a representative fraction of genotypes decreased noticeably with smaller sample sizes, challenging the detection of differences in genotypic diversity with typical isolate numbers in the field., This work was supported by the Olle Engkvist foundation [200-0564 to I.S.]; the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) [2018-04992 to B.C.L.]; the Academy of Finland [321609 to C.S.]; the National Science Foundation [NSF OCE-1841811 to D.L.E. and M.L.R.]; and the National Institute of Environmental Health [NIEHS P01ES028949 to M.L.R.].

The rate of caesarean section delivery (CSD) is increasing worldwide. It remains unclear whether disruption of mother-to-neonate transmission of microbiota through CSD occurs and whether it affects human physiology. Here we perform metagenomic analysis of earliest gut microbial community structures and functions. We identify differences in encoded functions between microbiomes of vaginally delivered (VD) and CSD neonates. Several functional pathways are over-represented in VD neonates, including lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis. We link these enriched functions to individual-specific strains, which are transmitted from mothers to neonates in case of VD. The stimulation of primary human immune cells with LPS isolated from early stool samples of VD neonates results in higher levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin 18 (IL-18). Accordingly, the observed levels of TNF-α and IL-18 in neonatal blood plasma are higher after VD. Taken together, our results support that CSD disrupts mother-to-neonate transmission of specific microbial strains, linked functional repertoires and immune-stimulatory potential during a critical window for neonatal immune system priming., QC 20190626

QC 20171106

In temperate systems, phytoplankton spring blooms deplete inorganic nutrients and are major sources of organic matter for the microbial loop. In response to phytoplankton exudates and environmental factors, heterotrophic microbial communities are highly dynamic and change their abundance and composition both on spatial and temporal scales. Yet, most of our understanding about these processes comes from laboratory model organism studies, mesocosm experiments or single temporal transects. Spatial-temporal studies examining interactions of phytoplankton blooms and bacterioplankton community composition and function, though being highly informative, are scarce. In this study, pelagic microbial community dynamics (bacteria and phytoplankton) and environmental variables were monitored during a spring bloom across the Baltic Proper (two cruises between North Germany to Gulf of Finland). To test to what extent bacterioplankton community composition relates to the spring bloom, we used next generation amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, phytoplankton diversity analysis based on microscopy counts and population genotyping of the dominating diatom Skeletonema marinoi. Several phytoplankton bloom related and environmental variables were identified to influence bacterial community composition. Members of Bacteroidetes and Alphaproteobacteria dominated the bacterial community composition but the bacterial groups showed no apparent correlation with direct bloom related variables. The less abundant bacterial phyla Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia, on the other hand, were strongly associated with phytoplankton biomass, diatom:dinoflagellate ratio, and colored dissolved organic matter (cDOM). Many bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) showed high niche specificities. For example, particular Bacteroidetes OTUs were associated with two distinct genetic clusters of S. marinoi. Our study revealed the complexity of interactions of bacterial taxa with inter

One of the main goals of microbial ecology is to identify the mechanismsthat regulate patterns in community structure at temporal scalescompatible with populations’ turnover times across complete seasonalcycles. Here, we examined high-frequency temporal dynamics of marineplankton from a sampling effort covering 2011-2013, roughly twice weekly,comprising 144 samples. Bacterial and eukaryotic communities wereprofiled by 16S and 18S high-throughput sequencing, respectively.Interestingly, we found that no combination of the measured environmentalparameters could predict a significant proportion of the variation inpopulation dynamics of bacterioplankton, and even less so for eukaryoticplankton. Large differences in physicochemical conditions and communitycomposition typical of temperate climates mean that different regimes canquickly succeed each other over the year, with the relative importance ofdifferent drivers changing equally rapidly. Nevertheless, our approachrevealed interesting recurrent co-occurrence patterns across distinctenvironmental changes. Hence, we could make abundance predictions formore than half of the most frequent OTUs based on interactions with otherOTUs. These results suggests that a complex set of biotic interactions arecontributing to temporal patterns among planktonic assemblages despiterapid changes in environmental conditions., QC 20160504

One of the main goals of microbial ecology is to identify the mechanismsthat regulate patterns in community structure at temporal scalescompatible with populations’ turnover times across complete seasonalcycles. Here, we examined high-frequency temporal dynamics of marineplankton from a sampling effort covering 2011-2013, roughly twice weekly,comprising 144 samples. Bacterial and eukaryotic communities wereprofiled by 16S and 18S high-throughput sequencing, respectively.Interestingly, we found that no combination of the measured environmentalparameters could predict a significant proportion of the variation inpopulation dynamics of bacterioplankton, and even less so for eukaryoticplankton. Large differences in physicochemical conditions and communitycomposition typical of temperate climates mean that different regimes canquickly succeed each other over the year, with the relative importance ofdifferent drivers changing equally rapidly. Nevertheless, our approachrevealed interesting recurrent co-occurrence patterns across distinctenvironmental changes. Hence, we could make abundance predictions formore than half of the most frequent OTUs based on interactions with otherOTUs. These results suggests that a complex set of biotic interactions arecontributing to temporal patterns among planktonic assemblages despiterapid changes in environmental conditions., QC 20160504

One of the main goals of microbial ecology is to identify the mechanismsthat regulate patterns in community structure at temporal scalescompatible with populations’ turnover times across complete seasonalcycles. Here, we examined high-frequency temporal dynamics of marineplankton from a sampling effort covering 2011-2013, roughly twice weekly,comprising 144 samples. Bacterial and eukaryotic communities wereprofiled by 16S and 18S high-throughput sequencing, respectively.Interestingly, we found that no combination of the measured environmentalparameters could predict a significant proportion of the variation inpopulation dynamics of bacterioplankton, and even less so for eukaryoticplankton. Large differences in physicochemical conditions and communitycomposition typical of temperate climates mean that different regimes canquickly succeed each other over the year, with the relative importance ofdifferent drivers changing equally rapidly. Nevertheless, our approachrevealed interesting recurrent co-occurrence patterns across distinctenvironmental changes. Hence, we could make abundance predictions formore than half of the most frequent OTUs based on interactions with otherOTUs. These results suggests that a complex set of biotic interactions arecontributing to temporal patterns among planktonic assemblages despiterapid changes in environmental conditions., QC 20160504

One of the main goals of microbial ecology is to identify the mechanismsthat regulate patterns in community structure at temporal scalescompatible with populations’ turnover times across complete seasonalcycles. Here, we examined high-frequency temporal dynamics of marineplankton from a sampling effort covering 2011-2013, roughly twice weekly,comprising 144 samples. Bacterial and eukaryotic communities wereprofiled by 16S and 18S high-throughput sequencing, respectively.Interestingly, we found that no combination of the measured environmentalparameters could predict a significant proportion of the variation inpopulation dynamics of bacterioplankton, and even less so for eukaryoticplankton. Large differences in physicochemical conditions and communitycomposition typical of temperate climates mean that different regimes canquickly succeed each other over the year, with the relative importance ofdifferent drivers changing equally rapidly. Nevertheless, our approachrevealed interesting recurrent co-occurrence patterns across distinctenvironmental changes. Hence, we could make abundance predictions formore than half of the most frequent OTUs based on interactions with otherOTUs. These results suggests that a complex set of biotic interactions arecontributing to temporal patterns among planktonic assemblages despiterapid changes in environmental conditions., QC 20160504

One of the main goals of microbial ecology is to identify the mechanismsthat regulate patterns in community structure at temporal scalescompatible with populations’ turnover times across complete seasonalcycles. Here, we examined high-frequency temporal dynamics of marineplankton from a sampling effort covering 2011-2013, roughly twice weekly,comprising 144 samples. Bacterial and eukaryotic communities wereprofiled by 16S and 18S high-throughput sequencing, respectively.Interestingly, we found that no combination of the measured environmentalparameters could predict a significant proportion of the variation inpopulation dynamics of bacterioplankton, and even less so for eukaryoticplankton. Large differences in physicochemical conditions and communitycomposition typical of temperate climates mean that different regimes canquickly succeed each other over the year, with the relative importance ofdifferent drivers changing equally rapidly. Nevertheless, our approachrevealed interesting recurrent co-occurrence patterns across distinctenvironmental changes. Hence, we could make abundance predictions formore than half of the most frequent OTUs based on interactions with otherOTUs. These results suggests that a complex set of biotic interactions arecontributing to temporal patterns among planktonic assemblages despiterapid changes in environmental conditions., QC 20160504