Algal blooms are hotspots of primary production in the ocean, forming the basis of the marine food web and fueling the dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool. Marine viruses are key players in controlling algal bloom demise, thereby diverting algal biomass from higher trophic levels to the DOM pool,...

The viral shunt is a fundamental ecosystem process which diverts the flux of organic carbon fixed through photosynthesis during algal bloom events from heterotrophic grazers to bacteria. Through the extracellular release of metabolites, lytic viral infections supply 2-10% of photosynthetically fi...

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) of the toxic haptophyte Prymnesium parvum are a recurrent problem in many inland and estuarine waters around the world. Strains of P. parvum vary in the toxins they produce and in other physiological traits associated with HABs, but the genetic basis ...

Four species of phytoplankton representing important bloom-forming species from three globally important phyla (Bacillariophyta, Haptophyta, and Ochrophyte) were cultured in this study. These species include the cosmopolitan diatom Chaetoceros affinis CCMP159 (isolated from Great South B...

Marine viruses play a key role in regulating phytoplankton populations, greatly affecting the biogeochemical cycling of major nutrients in the ocean. Resistance to viral infection has been reported for various phytoplankton species under laboratory conditions. Nevertheless, the occurrence of resi...