Study Reveals Seasonal Evolutionary Cycles in Wisconsin Lake Bacteria
Bacteria in Lake Mendota rapidly evolve with changing seasons but return to near-identical genetic states annually, highlighting complex ecological dynamics.
- Researchers analyzed 20 years of water samples from Wisconsin's Lake Mendota, creating the longest metagenome time series ever collected from a natural environment.
- Bacterial species in the lake undergo rapid genetic changes in response to seasonal shifts, such as ice cover in winter and algae blooms in summer.
- Despite these genetic shifts, bacteria consistently return to near-identical genetic states each year, forming a cyclical evolutionary pattern.
- Extreme weather in 2012, including early ice melt and reduced algae levels, caused long-term genetic adaptations in bacterial nitrogen metabolism, offering insights into responses to abrupt environmental changes.
- The findings suggest that climate change, with its gradual shifts and extreme events, may significantly influence microbial evolution and ecosystem dynamics in the future.
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