Abundance of Two Pelagibacter ubique Bacteriophage Genotypes along a Latitudinal Transect in the North and South Atlantic Oceans.

ABSTRACT: This study characterizes viral and bacterial dynamics along a latitudinal transect in the Atlantic Ocean from approximately 10 N-40 S. Overall viral abundance decreased with depth, on average there were 1.64 ± 0.71 × 10⁷ virus like particles (VLPs) in surface waters, decreasing to an average of 6.50 ± 2.26 × 10⁵ VLPs in Antarctic Bottom Water. This decrease was highly correlated to bacterial abundance. There are six major water masses in the Southern Tropical Atlantic Ocean, and inclusion of water mass, temperature and salinity variables explained a majority of the variation in total viral abundance. Recent discovery of phages infecting bacteria of the SAR11 clade of Alphaproteobacteria (i.e., pelagiphages) leads to intriguing questions about the roles they pla

SUBMITTER: Eggleston EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5039313 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature