Discovery, Prevalence, and Persistence of Novel Circular Single-Stranded DNA Viruses in the Ctenophores Mnemiopsis leidyi and Beroe ovata.

ABSTRACT: Gelatinous zooplankton, such as ctenophores and jellyfish, are important components of marine and brackish ecosystems and play critical roles in aquatic biogeochemistry. As voracious predators of plankton, ctenophores have key positions in aquatic food webs and are often successful invaders when introduced to new areas. Gelatinous zooplankton have strong impacts on ecosystem services, particularly in coastal environments. However, little is known about the factors responsible for regulating population dynamics of gelatinous organisms, including biological interactions that may contribute to bloom demise. Ctenophores are known to contain specific bacterial communities and a variety of invertebrate parasites and symbionts; however, no previous studies have examined the presence of viruses in

SUBMITTER: Breitbart M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4683175 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature