Abstract
Studies in laboratory-based experimental evolution have demonstrated that phytoplankton species can rapidly adapt to higher temperatures. However, adaptation processes and their pace remain largely unknown under natural conditions. Here, by comparing resurrected Skeletonema marinoi strains from the Baltic Sea during the past 60 years, we show that modern S. marinoi have increased their temperature optima by 1 °C. With the increasing ability to grow in higher temperatures, growth rates in cold water decreased. Modern S. marinoi modified their valve:girdle ratio under warmer temperatures, which probably increases nutrient uptake ability. This was supported by the upregulation of several genes related to nitrate metabolism in modern strains grown under high temperatures. Our approach using resurrected strains demonstrates the adaptation potential of naturally occurring marine diatoms to increasing temperatures as global warming proceeds and exemplifies a realistic pace of evolution, which is an order of magnitude slower than estimated by experimental evolution.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 518-525 |
| Journal | Nature Climate Change |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 8 Apr 2024 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
This research was funded by the Academy of Finland (grant number 321609) (C.S.), the Swedish Cultural Foundation (grant number 176762) (C.S.), the European Regional Development Fund and the programme Mobilitas Pluss (MOBTP160) (M.S., M.M.), the Estonian Research Council (grant PSG735) (S.S.), the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters (G.S.I.H.), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation; HA 9696/1-1) (G.S.I.H.) and the \u00C5bo Akademi University Foundation (C.S.). This study utilized research infrastructure as part of the FINMARI consortium (Finnish Marine Research Infrastructure network) and was supported by the molecular lab at Hus\u00F6 Biological Station, Finnish Functional Genomics Centre, Turku Bioscience, \u00C5bo Akademi University and the University of Turku. Open access fees were covered by G\u00F6sta Branders research fund, \u00C5bo Akademi Research Foundation. We also acknowledge CSC \u2013 IT Center for Science, Finland, for computational resources; K. K\u00FCnnis-Beres, K. P\u00E4rt and L. Lattu for the measurement of cell sizes; P. Kallio for support with the spectrophotometer; and K. Ramesh for proofreading the paper.