African Origin and Europe-Mediated Global Dispersal of The Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

Moreira, C (Author) FEUP; Spillane, C (Author) Other; Fathalli, A (Author) Other; Vasconcelos, V (Author) Other; Antunes, A (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Current Microbiology

Pages: 628-633

ISSN: 0343-8651

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 11 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00Y-HK9

DOI: 10.1007/s00284-014-0628-2

Abstract (EN): Microcystis aeruginosa is a bloom-forming cyanobacteria, which currently has a cosmopolitan distribution. Since M. aeruginosa can produce toxic compounds across all continents that it inhabits, it is of major public health relevance to assess its origin and dispersal. Thus, we conducted a worldwide study using 29 isolates representative of all the main continents, and used a concatenated genetic system for phylogenetic analyses consisting of four genetic markers (spanning ca. 3,485 bp). Our results support an early origin of M. aeruginosa in the African continent, with a subsequent dispersal to establish a second genetic pool in the European continent, from where M. aeruginosa then colonized the remaining continental regions. Our findings indicate that the European population has a cosmopolitan distribution, and is genetically closer to populations from Africa and North America. Our study also highlights the utility of using a concatenated dataset for phylogenetic inferences in cyanobacteria. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 6