Experimental Evolution of Marine Phytoplankton Under Elevated pCO2

The CO2 content of Earth's atmosphere is increasing at an unprecedented pace. Because marine phytoplankton are a crucial link in Earth's carbon cycle, understanding how they will adapt to elevated CO2 is an important component of our ability to predict the chemical composition of the future atmosphere and ocean, and hence our ability to predict the extent of anthropogenic impact on Earth's climate. In this study we used experimental laboratory evolution of representative phytoplankton strains, in co-culture with a widespread marine bacterium (Alteromonas macleodii) to understand how the genomes of these organisms would respond to projected future conditions.