Evolutionary dynamics and population genomics of cyanobacterial blooms

蓝藻水华发生在世界各地的湖泊，几乎每年在许多魁北克湖泊。水华微生物群落的主要成员通常是蓝细菌铜绿微囊藻，其中一些菌株产生对人类和牲畜有害的毒素。因此，水华可能对公共卫生构成威胁，许多研究已经深入了解水华动态和毒素产生的生物学。我们知道，在被富含氮和磷的肥料污染的湖泊中，水华更为严重，但我们仍然缺乏控制水华或预测水华是否有毒的能力。像许多微生物一样，微囊藻生长迅速（至少在夏季开花期间），种群规模庞大，产生基因多样的种群，可以对自然选择做出快速反应-这意味着它们可以在真实的时间内进化，年复一年，或者在夏季开花期间。

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.