Prasinoviruses of the marine green alga Ostreococcus tauri are mainly species specific.

ABSTRACT: Prasinoviruses infecting unicellular green algae in the order Mamiellales (class Mamiellophyceae) are commonly found in coastal marine waters where their host species frequently abound. We tested 40 Ostreococcus tauri viruses on 13 independently isolated wild-type O. tauri strains, 4 wild-type O. lucimarinus strains, 1 Ostreococcus sp. ("Ostreococcus mediterraneus") clade D strain, and 1 representative species of each of two other related species of Mamiellales, Bathycoccus prasinos and Micromonas pusilla. Thirty-four out of 40 viruses infected only O. tauri, 5 could infect one other species of the Ostreococcus genus, and 1 infected two other Ostreococcus spp., but none of them infected the other genera. We observed that the overall susceptibility pattern of Ostreococcus strains to viruses

SUBMITTER: Clerissi C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3318615 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature