Lack of Phylogeographic Structure in the Freshwater Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa Suggests Global Dispersal

Background : Free-living microorganisms have long been assumed to have ubiquitous distributions with little biogeographic signature because they typically exhibit high dispersal potential and large population sizes. However, molecular data provide contrasting results and it is far from clear to what extent dispersal limitation determines geographic structuring of microbial populations. We aimed to determine biogeographical patterns of the bloom-forming freshwater cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. Being widely distributed on a global scale but patchily on a regional scale, this prokaryote is an ideal model organism to study microbial dispersal and biogeography. Methodology/Principal Findings : The phylogeography of M. aeruginosa was studied based on a dataset of 311 rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences sampled from six continents. Richness of ITS sequences was high (239 ITS types were detected). Genetic divergence among ITS types averaged 4% (maximum pairwise divergence was 13%). Preliminary analyses revealed nearly completely unresolved phylogenetic relationships and a lack of genetic structure among all sequences due to extensive homoplasy at multiple hypervariable sites. After correcting for this, still no clear phylogeographic structure was detected, and no pattern of isolation by distance was found on a global scale. Concomitantly, genetic differentiation among continents was marginal, whereas variation within continents was high and was mostly shared with all other continents. Similarly, no genetic structure across climate zones was detected. Conclusions/Significance : The high overall diversity and wide global distribution of common ITS types in combination with the lack of phylogeographic structure suggest that intercontinental dispersal of M. aeruginosa ITS types is not rare, and that this species might have a truly cosmopolitan distribution

A community-based geological reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum

A robust understanding of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglacial history since the Last Glacial Maximum is important in order to constrain ice sheet and glacial-isostatic adjustment models, and to explore the forcing mechanisms responsible for ice sheet retreat. Such understanding can be derived from a broad range of geological and glaciological datasets and recent decades have seen an upsurge in such data gathering around the continent and Sub-Antarctic islands. Here, we report a new synthesis of those datasets, based on an accompanying series of reviews of the geological data, organised by sector. We present a series of timeslice maps for 20ka, 15ka, 10ka and 5ka, including grounding line position and ice sheet thickness changes, along with a clear assessment of levels of confidence. The reconstruction shows that the Antarctic Ice sheet did not everywhere reach the continental shelf edge at its maximum, that initial retreat was asynchronous, and that the spatial pattern of deglaciation was highly variable, particularly on the inner shelf. The deglacial reconstruction is consistent with a moderate overall excess ice volume and with a relatively small Antarctic contribution to meltwater pulse 1a. We discuss key areas of uncertainty both around the continent and by time interval, and we highlight potential priorit. © 2014 The Authors

La Culture des diatomées

International audienceIn this chapter, we provide information on cultures of diatoms, starting with a brief introduction of the history of diatom culture collections. We present a synopsis of diatom strains currently available in culture collections and their representation in terms of habitat diversity, geographical distribution, phylogeny and taxonomic diversity. We outline the major techniques for isolating and cultivating diatoms and discuss the problems and possible strategies linked to diatom life cycles and habitat requirements. We summarize information and techniques available for long term preservation of diatom cultures. Finally, we also describe the main strategies to make diatom strains amenable to genetic engineering

A paleolimnological reconstruction of Holocene climate change in southern Patagonia

To fully understand the Holocene climatic variability in the sub-polar latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere and its driving mechanisms, like the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds, we undertook a multi-proxy analysis of a lake sediment core from Lago Pato (51°18.020’S, 72°40.716’W; Chile). The bottom sediments of the core are of glaciogenic origin and gave bulk ages of 30 000 - 22 000 cal. yr. B.P. These are overlain by brown, organic rich sediments which are 9500 cal. yr. B.P. old. The hiatus between both stratigraphic units is possibly related to sediment erosion as a result of the outflow of a large lake after regional deglaciation of the Patagonian Ice Sheet. The pollen record and a diverse benthic diatom community in the Holocene sediments point to dry conditions between ca. 9500 and 6035 cal. yr. B.P. This is coincident with the Early Holocene climate optimum recorded in for example the North Atlantic and Antarctica. From 6035 cal. yr. B.P. until the most recent period a higher biological production compared with the Early Holocene can be inferred from all proxies, probably resulting from wetter and/or warmer conditions. Apart from the diatoms, changes in the proxies are small since the Mid Holocene. The establishment of a planktonic diatom flora between 6035 and 3780 cal. yr. B.P. with the presence of the small diatom Discostella stelligera s.l. as well as the larger species Aulacoseira ambigua, A. granulata s.l. and Cyclostephanos cf. patagonicus possibly points to a period with sufficient mixing during autumn, winter or spring as well as enhanced thermal stratification during summer. Between ca. 3780 and 2080 the diatom community is dominated by Discostella stelligera which suggest a reduced water column mixing and a more stable lake stratification. From ca. 2080 cal. yr. B.P. till present an abrupt shift to and dominance of small chain-forming benthic fragilariod diatoms took place. This period is coincident with the Neoglacial cooling and could be the result of a change in lake-level, longer ice-cover, a turbid/low-nutrient environment, or a more alkaline environment. In the most recent sediments also an increase of Cyclotella cf. meneghiniana could be noticed

Gas transport in porous electrodes of solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract. This study aimed at unraveling the structure underlying the taxon-richness matrix of shallow lakes. We assessed taxon richness of a large variety of food-web components at different trophic levels (bacteria, ciliates, phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish, macro-invertebrates, and water plants) in 98 shallow lakes from three European geographic regions: Denmark (DK), Belgium/The Netherlands (BNL), and southern Spain (SP). Lakes were selected along four mutually independent gradients of total phosphorus (TP), vegetation cover (SUBMCOV), lake area (AREA), and connectedness (CONN). Principal-components analysis (PCA) indicated that taxon diversity at the ecosystem level is a multidimensional phenomenon. Different PCA axes showed associations with richness in different subsets of organism groups, and differences between eigenvalues were low. Redundancy analysis showed a unique significant contribution to total richness variation of SUBMCOV in all three regions, of TP in DK and SP, and of AREA in DK and BNL. In DK, several organism groups tended to show curvilinear responses to TP, but only one was significantly hump shaped. We postulate that the unimodal richness responses to TP that are frequently reported in the literature for many organism groups may be partly mediated by the unimodal response of macrophyte vegetation to lake productivity