High abundances of cyanomyoviruses in marine ecosystems demonstrate ecological relevance. Issue 2 (2nd January 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Matteson, Audrey R.; Rowe, Janet M.; Ponsero, Alise J.; Pimentel, Tiana M.; Boyd, Philip W.; Wilhelm, Steven W.
• Is Part Of: FEMS microbiology ecology. Volume 84:Issue 2(2013)
• Page Start: 223
• Page End: 234
• Publication Date: 2013-01-02
• Subjects: Microbial ecology -- Periodicals; Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579.17
• DOI: 10.1111/1574-6941.12060
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0168-6496

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="fem12060-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>The distribution of cyanomyoviruses was estimated using a quantitative PCR (qPCR) approach that targeted the <italic>g20</italic> gene as a proxy for phage. Samples were collected spatially during a > 3000 km transect through the Sargasso Sea and temporally during a gyre‐constrained phytoplankton bloom within the southern Pacific Ocean. Cyanomyovirus abundances were lower in the Sargasso Sea than in the southern Pacific Ocean, ranging from 2.75 × 10<sup>3</sup> to 5.15 × 10<sup>4</sup> mL<sup>−1</sup> and correlating with the abundance of their potential hosts (<italic>Prochlorococcus</italic> and <italic>Synechococcus</italic>). Cyanomyovirus abundance in the southern Pacific Ocean (east of New Zealand) followed <italic>Synechococcus</italic> host populations in the system: this included a decrease in <italic>g20</italic> gene copies (from 4.3 × 10<sup>5</sup> to 9.6 × 10<sup>3</sup> mL<sup>−1</sup>) following the demise of a <italic>Synechococcus</italic> bloom. When compared with direct counts of viruses, observations suggest that the cyanomyoviruses comprised 0.5 to >25% of the total virus community. We estimated daily lysis rates of 0.2–46% of the standing stock of <italic>Synechococcus</italic> in the Pacific Ocean compared with <italic>c</italic>. < 1.0% in the Sargasso Sea. In total, our observations confirm this family of viruses is abundant in marine systems and that they are an important source of cyanobacterial mortality.</p> </abstract>