4.8 Article

Evolutionary genomics of the cold-adapted diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus

Journal

NATURE
Volume 541, Issue 7638, Pages 536-540

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/nature20803

Keywords

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Funding

  1. ERC
  2. Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]
  3. BBSRC [BB/J004669/1]
  4. NERC [NE/I001751/1, NE/K004530/1]
  5. MGF (NBAF) [197]
  6. Royal Society [RG090774]
  7. Earth & Life Systems Alliance in Norwich
  8. BBSRC [BBS/E/T/000PR5885, BBS/E/T/000PR6193, BBS/E/D/20310000, BBS/E/T/000PR9818] Funding Source: UKRI
  9. NERC [NE/K004530/1, NE/K013734/1, NE/I001751/1, NBAF010003] Funding Source: UKRI
  10. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BBS/E/T/000PR9818, BBS/E/T/000PR9816, BBS/E/T/000PR6193, BBS/E/T/000PR5885, BBS/E/D/20310000] Funding Source: researchfish
  11. Natural Environment Research Council [NE/I001751/1, NE/K004530/1, NE/K013734/1, NBAF010003] Funding Source: researchfish

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The Southern Ocean houses a diverse and productive community of organisms(1,2). Unicellular eukaryotic diatoms are the main primary producers in this environment, where photosynthesis is limited by low concentrations of dissolved iron and large seasonal fluctuations in light, temperature and the extent of sea ice(3-7). How diatoms have adapted to this extreme environment is largely unknown. Here we present insights into the genome evolution of a cold-adapted diatom from the Southern Ocean, Fragilariopsis cylindrus(8,9), based on a comparison with temperate diatoms. We find that approximately 24.7 per cent of the diploid F. cylindrus genome consists of genetic loci with alleles that are highly divergent (15.1 megabases of the total genome size of 61.1 megabases). These divergent alleles were differentially expressed across environmental conditions, including darkness, low iron, freezing, elevated temperature and increased CO2. Alleles with the largest ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous nucleotide substitutions also show the most pronounced condition-dependent expression, suggesting a correlation between diversifying selection and allelic differentiation. Divergent alleles may be involved in adaptation to environmental fluctuations in the Southern Ocean.

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