Evolutionary dynamics and population genomics of cyanobacterial blooms

蓝藻繁殖发生在世界各地的湖泊，几乎每年在魁北克的许多湖泊。藻华微生物群落的主要成员通常是铜绿微囊藻蓝藻，其中一些菌株会产生对人类和牲畜有害的毒素。因此，藻华会对公众健康构成威胁，很多研究都是为了了解藻华动态和毒素产生的生物学。我们知道，在富含氮和磷的肥料污染的湖泊中，藻华更为严重，但我们仍然缺乏控制藻华或预测它们是否有毒的能力。像许多微生物一样，微囊藻迅速生长（至少在夏季繁殖期），形成大量的种群，产生基因多样化的种群，这些种群可以对自然选择做出快速反应——这意味着它们可以每年或在夏季繁殖期实时进化。

Cyanobacterial blooms occur in lakes worldwide, and almost yearly in many Quebec lakes. The dominant member of the bloom's microbial community is typically the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, some strains of which produce toxins harmful to humans and livestock. Blooms can therefore pose a public health threat, and much research has gone into understanding the biology of bloom dynamics and toxin production. We know that blooms are more severe in lakes polluted with nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich fertilizers, but we still lack the ability to control blooms or predict whether they will be toxic. Like many microbes, Microcystis grow rapidly (at least during summer blooms) to large population sizes, generating genetically diverse populations that can respond rapidly to natural selection - meaning that they can evolve in real time, from year to year, or over the course of a summer bloom.