Topic：Induced and Adaptive Responses of Microalgae to Bacteria – from Ecological Concepts to Targeted Culture Manipulation

Lecturer：Georg Pohnert (Professor of Friedrich Schiller University Jena)

Time：15:00—17:00, Monday, October 19th, 2026 

Avene：Dongtang Hall, No.13 Building, Wushan Campus

Abstract:

  The bloom-and-bustdynamics of microalgae in aquatic systems play a major role in global biogeochemical cycles. They are mirrored by processes in aquaculture, and their understanding can help to improve efficiency. The decline of algal blooms is primarily driven by nutrient limitation,leading to cell death, arrest of cell division, and aging of surviving cells.Coexisting bacteria can modulate these processes, thereby influencing microbial community dynamics with consequences for the entire marine food web. Here, we introduce dynamic responses of diatoms to diverse co-existing bacterial partners. We demonstrate that these responses are highly adapted to therespective bacteria and display clear species specificity. Diatoms can altertheir survival strategies in direct response to bacteria, mediated by chemical signals released within the algal phycosphere. These responses include the production of resistance factors, vesicle secretion in response to bacterial partners, and long-term adaptations observed in adaptive evolution experiments.Co-incubation experiments combined with metabolomic analyses of the communities enable the identification of chemical mediators involved and provide insightinto the physiological responses of both interaction partners. Overall, thiswork offers new perspectives on the dynamics and complexity of microbial communities in aquatic ecosystems.

Welcome all the teachers and students to attend!