The diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum was cultured in five different growth regimes to obtain cells with different composition. Pairs of populations subjected to different treatments were then mixed in a communal culture regime that differed from those of origin. After 6 h, the ratio between the two populations was verified by flow cytometry. Alterations in this ratio were found when cells previously grown at 1 mM NH4+ were mixed with GeO2 - and 0.5 mM NH4+ -grown cells. The nutritional background may thus make cells differently suited to new environmental conditions and afford advantages in terms of reproductive potential. Competitive interactions between populations may result from the differences in the expressed proteome and/or in the availability of tools for regulatory responses. This may have relevance to the persistence of phenotypically neutral variants present in the population best suited to the new condition, after the interaction of the conspecifics with different nutritional histories.

Laboratory of Algal and Plant Physiology Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente Università Politecnica delle Marche Ancona Italy

Laboratory of Algal and Plant Physiology Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente Università Politecnica delle Marche Ancona Italy Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Algatech Trebon Czech Republic Institute of Marine Science ISMAR National Research Council Venezia Italy Università Politecnica delle Marche Shantou University Joint Algal Research Center Shantou Guangdong China

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