Rapid diversification underlying the global dominance of a cosmopolitan phytoplankton
Marine phytoplankton play important roles in the global ecosystem, with a limited number of cosmopolitan keystone species driving their biomass. Recent studies have revealed that many of these phytoplankton are complexes composed of sibling species, but little is known about the evolutionary process...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2023
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| _version_ | 1826310100495630336 |
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| author | Bendif, EM Probert, I Archontikis, OA Young, JR Beaufort, L Rickaby, RE Filatov, D |
| author_facet | Bendif, EM Probert, I Archontikis, OA Young, JR Beaufort, L Rickaby, RE Filatov, D |
| author_sort | Bendif, EM |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Marine phytoplankton play important roles in the global ecosystem, with a limited number of cosmopolitan keystone species driving their biomass. Recent studies have revealed that many of these phytoplankton are complexes composed of sibling species, but little is known about the evolutionary processes underlying their formation. <i>Gephyrocapsa huxleyi</i>, a widely distributed and abundant unicellular marine planktonic algae, produces calcified scales (coccoliths), thereby significantly affects global biogeochemical cycles via sequestration of inorganic carbon. This species is composed of morphotypes defined by differing degrees of coccolith calcification, the evolutionary ecology of which remains unclear. Here, we report an integrated morphological, ecological and genomic survey across globally distributed <i>G. huxleyi</i> strains to reconstruct evolutionary relationships between morphotypes in relation to their habitats. While <i>G. huxleyi</i> has been considered a single cosmopolitan species, our analyses demonstrate that it has evolved to comprise at least three distinct species, which led us to formally revise the taxonomy of the <i>G. huxleyi</i> complex. Moreover, the first speciation event occurred before the onset of the last interglacial period (~140 ka), while the second followed during this interglacial. Then, further rapid diversifications occurred during the most recent ice-sheet expansion of the last glacial period and established morphotypes as dominant populations across environmental clines. These results suggest that glacial-cycle dynamics contributed to the isolation of ocean basins and the segregations of oceans fronts as extrinsic drivers of micro-evolutionary radiations in extant marine phytoplankton. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:45:41Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:9457be74-f203-4672-8b5d-a59aa2dfa57a |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:45:41Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:9457be74-f203-4672-8b5d-a59aa2dfa57a2023-06-07T08:40:23ZRapid diversification underlying the global dominance of a cosmopolitan phytoplanktonJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:9457be74-f203-4672-8b5d-a59aa2dfa57amicrobial biooceanographypopulation geneticsphylogenomicsEnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer Nature2023Bendif, EMProbert, IArchontikis, OAYoung, JRBeaufort, LRickaby, REFilatov, DMarine phytoplankton play important roles in the global ecosystem, with a limited number of cosmopolitan keystone species driving their biomass. Recent studies have revealed that many of these phytoplankton are complexes composed of sibling species, but little is known about the evolutionary processes underlying their formation. <i>Gephyrocapsa huxleyi</i>, a widely distributed and abundant unicellular marine planktonic algae, produces calcified scales (coccoliths), thereby significantly affects global biogeochemical cycles via sequestration of inorganic carbon. This species is composed of morphotypes defined by differing degrees of coccolith calcification, the evolutionary ecology of which remains unclear. Here, we report an integrated morphological, ecological and genomic survey across globally distributed <i>G. huxleyi</i> strains to reconstruct evolutionary relationships between morphotypes in relation to their habitats. While <i>G. huxleyi</i> has been considered a single cosmopolitan species, our analyses demonstrate that it has evolved to comprise at least three distinct species, which led us to formally revise the taxonomy of the <i>G. huxleyi</i> complex. Moreover, the first speciation event occurred before the onset of the last interglacial period (~140 ka), while the second followed during this interglacial. Then, further rapid diversifications occurred during the most recent ice-sheet expansion of the last glacial period and established morphotypes as dominant populations across environmental clines. These results suggest that glacial-cycle dynamics contributed to the isolation of ocean basins and the segregations of oceans fronts as extrinsic drivers of micro-evolutionary radiations in extant marine phytoplankton. |
| spellingShingle | microbial biooceanography population genetics phylogenomics Bendif, EM Probert, I Archontikis, OA Young, JR Beaufort, L Rickaby, RE Filatov, D Rapid diversification underlying the global dominance of a cosmopolitan phytoplankton |
| title | Rapid diversification underlying the global dominance of a cosmopolitan phytoplankton |
| title_full | Rapid diversification underlying the global dominance of a cosmopolitan phytoplankton |
| title_fullStr | Rapid diversification underlying the global dominance of a cosmopolitan phytoplankton |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rapid diversification underlying the global dominance of a cosmopolitan phytoplankton |
| title_short | Rapid diversification underlying the global dominance of a cosmopolitan phytoplankton |
| title_sort | rapid diversification underlying the global dominance of a cosmopolitan phytoplankton |
| topic | microbial biooceanography population genetics phylogenomics |
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