Temperate infection in a virus-host system previously known for virulent dynamics.

ABSTRACT: The blooming cosmopolitan coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi and its viruses (EhVs) are a model for density-dependent virulent dynamics. EhVs commonly exhibit rapid viral reproduction and drive host death in high-density laboratory cultures and mesocosms that simulate blooms. Here we show that this system exhibits physiology-dependent temperate dynamics at environmentally relevant E. huxleyi host densities rather than virulent dynamics, with viruses switching from a long-term non-lethal temperate phase in healthy hosts to a lethal lytic stage as host cells become physiologically stressed. Using this system as a model for temperate infection dynamics, we present a template to diagnose temperate infection in other virus-host systems by integrating experimental, theoretical, and environmental

SUBMITTER: Knowles B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7493887 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature