Irreversibly increased nitrogen fixation in Trichodesmium experimentally adapted to elevated carbon dioxide.
Nitrogen fixation rates of the globally distributed, biogeochemically important marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium increase under high carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in short-term studies due to physiological plasticity. However, its long-term adaptive responses to ongoing anthropogenic CO2 increases are unknown. Here we show that experimental evolution under extended selection at projected future elevated CO2 levels results in irreversible, large increases in nitrogen fixation and growth rates, even after being moved back to lower present day CO2 levels for hundreds of generations. This represents an unprecedented microbial evolutionary response, as reproductive fitness increases acquired in the selection environment are maintained after returning to the ancestral environment. Constitutive rate increases are accompanied by irreversible shifts in diel nitrogen fixation patterns, and increased activity of a potentially regulatory DNA methyltransferase enzyme. High CO2-selected cell lines also exhibit increased phosphorus-limited growth rates, suggesting a potential advantage for this keystone organism in a more nutrient-limited, acidified future ocean.
Marine and Environmental Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
David A
DA
Hutchins
Marine and Environmental Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
Nathan G
NG
Walworth
Marine and Environmental Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
Eric A
EA
Webb
Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
Mak A
MA
Saito
Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
Dawn
D
Moran
Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
Matthew R
MR
McIlvin
Marine and Environmental Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
Jasmine
J
Gale
Marine and Environmental Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
Fei-Xue
FX
Fu
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D054300:Oscillatoria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000378:metabolism
D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D010758:Phosphorus