Seasonality and Strain Specificity Drive Rapid Co-evolution in an Ostreococcus-Virus System from the Western Baltic Sea.

ABSTRACT: Marine viruses are a major driver of phytoplankton mortality and thereby influence biogeochemical cycling of carbon and other nutrients. Phytoplankton-targeting viruses are important components of ecosystem dynamics, but broad-scale experimental investigations of host-virus interactions remain scarce. Here, we investigated in detail a picophytoplankton (size 1 µm) host's responses to infections by species-specific viruses from distinct geographical regions and different sampling seasons. Specifically, we used Ostreococcus tauri and O. mediterraneus and their viruses (size ca. 100 nm). Ostreococcus sp. is globally distributed and, like other picoplankton species, play an important role in coastal ecosystems at certain times of the year. Further, Ostreococcus sp. is a model organism, and the

SUBMITTER: Listmann L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10640450 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature