Toxic bacteria adapt fast

Harmful blue-green algae can adapt rapidly to changing environments.

The photosynthetic cyanobacterium Microcystis produces toxic blooms in lakes and reservoirs. To test how different strains respond to changing carbon dioxide levels in water, Jef Huisman and his colleagues at the University of Amsterdam kept mixed populations in the laboratory and aerated the water with bubbles containing low or elevated levels of CO₂. In low CO₂ conditions, strains whose carbon-uptake systems are efficient when carbon is limited became dominant. When CO₂ was elevated, however, strains that have systems with high uptake rates outcompeted the others. The team studied Microcystis collected from Lake Kennemermeer in the Netherlands and found that the abundance of each strain shifted with seasonal changes in CO₂ availability.

Cyanobacteria may be more adept at dealing with high CO₂ levels than previously thought.

Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA http://doi.org/bnf9 (2016)