Frequency of virus-resistant hosts determines experimental community dynamics
- Parasites, such as bacterial viruses (phages), can have large effects on host populations both at the ecological and evolutionary levels. In the case of cyanobacteria, phages can reduce primary production and infected hosts release intracellular nutrients influencing planktonic food web structure, community dynamics, and biogeochemical cycles. Cyanophages may be of great importance in aquatic food webs during large cyanobacterial blooms unless the host population becomes resistant to phage infection. The consequences on plankton community dynamics of the evolution of phage resistance in bloom forming cyanobacterial populations are still poorly studied. Here, we examined the effect of different frequencies of a phage-resistant genotype within a filamentous nitrogen-fixing Nodularia spumigena population on an experimental plankton community. Three Nodularia populations with different initial frequencies (0%, 5%, and 50%) of phage-resistant genotypes were inoculated in separate treatments with the phage 2AV2, the green alga ChlorellaParasites, such as bacterial viruses (phages), can have large effects on host populations both at the ecological and evolutionary levels. In the case of cyanobacteria, phages can reduce primary production and infected hosts release intracellular nutrients influencing planktonic food web structure, community dynamics, and biogeochemical cycles. Cyanophages may be of great importance in aquatic food webs during large cyanobacterial blooms unless the host population becomes resistant to phage infection. The consequences on plankton community dynamics of the evolution of phage resistance in bloom forming cyanobacterial populations are still poorly studied. Here, we examined the effect of different frequencies of a phage-resistant genotype within a filamentous nitrogen-fixing Nodularia spumigena population on an experimental plankton community. Three Nodularia populations with different initial frequencies (0%, 5%, and 50%) of phage-resistant genotypes were inoculated in separate treatments with the phage 2AV2, the green alga Chlorella vulgaris, and the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis, which formed the experimental plankton community subjected to either nitrogen-limited or nitrogen-rich conditions. We found that the frequency of the phage-resistant Nodularia genotype determined experimental community dynamics. Cyanobacterial populations with a high frequency (50%) of the phage-resistant genotype dominated the cultures despite the presence of phages, retaining most of the intracellular nitrogen in the plankton community. In contrast, populations with low frequencies (0% and 5%) of the phage-resistant genotype were lysed and reduced to extinction by the phage, transferring the intracellular nitrogen held by Nodularia to Chlorella and rotifers, and allowing Chlorella to dominate the communities and rotifers to survive. This study shows that even though phages represent minuscule biomass, they can have key effects on community composition and eco-evolutionary feedbacks in plankton communities.…
Author details: | Sebastian Coloma, Ursula GaedkeORCiDGND, Kaarina SivonenORCiD, Teppo Hiltunen |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2554 |
ISSN: | 0012-9658 |
ISSN: | 1939-9170 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30411791 |
Title of parent work (English): | Ecology : a publication of the Ecological Society of America |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Place of publishing: | Hoboken |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2018/11/09 |
Publication year: | 2019 |
Release date: | 2021/05/28 |
Tag: | cyanobacteria; eco-evolutionary feedbacks; experimental evolution; host-parasite interaction; phage resistance; predator-prey interaction |
Volume: | 100 |
Issue: | 1 |
Number of pages: | 10 |
Funding institution: | Nessling Foundation; Finnish Cultural FoundationFinnish Cultural Foundation; Academy of FinlandAcademy of Finland |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Green Open-Access |