Abstract
Abstract Individual cyanobacterial species can occupy a diversity of symbiotic lifestyles yet how this lifestyle is determined is unknown. In this study we focus on the symbiotic lifestyles of the cyanobacterial genus Nostoc, and define their lifestyle based on their symbiotic state: free-living or symbiotic with lichen-forming fungi. Within an evolutionary context, members of one symbiotic lifestyle can be found more closely related to members of another symbiotic lifestyle and do not form monophyletic groups. This pattern can be explained by either deterministic or variable factors, by whether or not switches between lifestyles occur infrequently or frequently, and by limitations on symbiont dispersal. We began this study by focusing within a single habitat in which both free-living and symbiotic Nostoc sp. individuals occur in order to test amongst hypotheses. Using the rbcLX genetic region we placed individuals within a larger phylogenetic context using a worldwide dataset of free-living and symbiotic...
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