A Bacterial Pathogen Displaying Temperature-Enhanced Virulence of the Microalga Emiliania huxleyi.

ABSTRACT: Emiliania huxleyi is a globally abundant microalga that plays a significant role in biogeochemical cycles. Over the next century, sea surface temperatures are predicted to increase drastically, which will likely have significant effects on the survival and ecology of E. huxleyi. In a warming ocean, this microalga may become increasingly vulnerable to pathogens, particularly those with temperature-dependent virulence. Ruegeria is a genus of Rhodobacteraceae whose population size tracks that of E. huxleyi throughout the alga's bloom-bust lifecycle. A representative of this genus, Ruegeria sp. R11, is known to cause bleaching disease in a red macroalga at elevated temperatures. To investigate if the pathogenicity of R11 extends to microalgae, it was co-cultured with several cell types of E. h

SUBMITTER: Mayers TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4904034 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature