Gas-vacuolate Microcystis evolves cyanophage resistance under low nitrogen conditions

Authors

Meza-Padilla, I., Nissimov, J. I.

Abstract

Cyanophages can influence the dynamics of toxic cyanobacterial blooms. However, cyanobacteria can become resistant to viruses through natural selection processes. Here, we investigate the acquisition of virus resistance in a toxic, freshwater, gas-vacuolate, bloom-forming cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa, under different nutrient concentrations. We find that gas-vacuolate M. aeruginosa subpopulations acquire virus resistance in low nitrogen cultures regardless of their phosphorus concentration, whereas non-vacuolate subpopulations do not. After resequencing susceptible and resistant M. aeruginosa variants, we identify a mutation in the transmembrane domain of a nitrogen-related transporter as the most likely genetic cause of the resistance. Infection experiments further reveal a larger viral burst size and higher phycocyanin content in gas-vacuolate cells compared to non-vacuolate ones. Based on these experimental results, we propose an ecological model in which lower nitrogen concentrations, higher light intensities and increased virus-host contact rates facilitate the evolution of virus resistance in upper lake layers during Microcystis-dominated blooms.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 14 Jul 2026.

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