Small, coccoid and rod-shaped Synechococcus-type cyanobacteria with either phycoerythrin or phycocyanin as major accessory pigments were isolated from several large, temperate-zone lakes and the brackish Baltic Sea. The picocyanobacteria had two ribosomal operons with a long internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1) separating the 16S rDNA and 23S rDNA. A 16S rRNA-based phylogenetic analysis assigned all isolates to the picophytoplankton clade [sensu Urbach, E., 46,[188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197][198][199][200][201], which also comprises marine Synechococcus spp. and Prochlorococcus spp. The strains assorted to five paraphyletic clusters each containing two or more strains with 99?4-100 % 16S rRNA sequence identity. Five corresponding strain clusters were deduced from analysis of ITS-1 sequences. Sequence divergence in ITS-1 varied between 23 % in the most divergent and 1 % in the phylogenetically most conserved cluster. Clustered strains with low sequence divergence in ITS-1 were frequently isolated from a single ecosystem or hydrographically comparable lakes in the same region. They represent physiologically distinct ecotypes of species which, among other phenotypic variations, frequently differed in their major accessory pigments, the phycobiliproteins. The reproduction of the various pigment traits in different lineages was not correlated with the phylogenetic divergence deduced from 16S rRNA or ITS-1 sequences but rather seemed to be related to characteristics of the ecosystem and habitat from which the strains were isolated. The occurrence of a comparable spectrum of phenotypes in different lineages and ecosystems indicates that different strain clusters developed similar ecotypes during independent adaptive radiations.
The autotrophic picoplankton of the pelagic zone of the mesotrophic Lake Constance is dominated by phycoerythrin-rich unicellular cyanobacteria phylogenetically related to the marine Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus cluster. In Lake Constance, the abundance of picocyanobacteria shows a recurrent pattern of seasonal variations. Evidence of diverse subpopulations was obtained by electron-microscopic examination of natural water samples and isolated strains that unveiled different surface structures of picocyanobacteria. Further evidence was obtained by DNA analysis of 26 clonal isolates representing 12 different genotypes. Variations in light and nutrient supply revealed distinct abilities of the genetically different strains to cope with these stress situations. Furthermore, cultured heterotrophic nanoflagellates exhibited differential feeding preferences for certain Synechococcus strains. The findings imply that growth and loss rates of the natural cyanobacterial community may be influenced by its genetic composition. Phylogenetic analyses of isolated strains indicated that the physiological diversification of pelagic Synechococcus spp. has occurred during a recent adaptive radiation. An example for genetic mechanisms underlying physiological diversification is indicated by mobile DNA elements found in a Synechocystis strain also isolated from the pelagic zone of Lake Constance. The observations suggest that dominance of Synechococcus spp. was achieved by evolutionary adaptation and coexistence of numerous genotypes generating a physiologically highly diversified population.
In various water depths of the littoral zone of Lake Constance (Bodensee) cyanobacteria of the Synechococcus-type were isolated from biofilms (periphyton) on three natural substrates and an artificial one (unglazed tiles). From one tile three strains of phycoerythrin (PE)-rich Synechococcus spp. were isolated, the first examples of these organisms in the epibenthos. Phylogenetic inference based on the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer (ITS-1) assigned all periphytic isolates to two clusters of the picophytoplankton clade (evolutionary lineage VI of cyanobacteria). The sequence divergence in the ITS-1 was used to design specific PCR primers to allow direct, culture-independent detection and quantification of isolated Synechococcus strains in natural periphytic and pelagic samples. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis revealed depth-related differences of Synechococcus spp. distribution on tiles placed in the littoral zone. Synechococcus genotypes were observed which occurred in both the periphyton (on tiles) and in the pelagic picoplankton. A strain with one of these genotypes, Synechococcus sp. BO 8805, was isolated from the pelagic zone in 1988. Its genotype was found on tiles that had been exposed at different water depths in the littoral zone in spring and autumn of the year 2000. Quantitative analysis with a genotype-specific TaqMan probe and real-time Taq nuclease assays (TNA) confirmed its presence in the pelagic zone, although appearance of this and related genotypes was highly irregular and exhibited strong differences between consecutive years. Our results show that the ability to form significant subpopulations in pelagic and periphytic communities exists in three out of four phylogenetic clusters of Synechococcus spp. in Lake Constance. This versatility may be a key feature in the ubiquity of the evolutionary lineage VI of cyanobacteria.
Seven phycoerythrin (PE)‐rich and six phycocyanin (PC)‐rich unicellular cyanobacteria of the Synechococcus type were isolated from the pelagial of Lake Constance. The genetic diversity among the isolates was evaluated using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) within the psbA gene family. Nine out of 13 isolates exhibit different DNA structures in the probed areas and, furthermore, they differ from morphologically similar strains collected from other lakes. The data set does not support a principal distinction between PC‐rich and PE‐rich strains but it reveals less heterogeneity in the coding region of the psbA genes among PE‐rich isolates than among PC‐rich isolates. The isolation of distinct strains in different seasons suggests species diversity and seasonal occurrence of Synechococcus spp. in Lake Constance.
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