The Genetic Significance of Viruses in the Marine Environment

病毒现在被认为是数量上最占主导地位的形式， 世界海洋中的生命。 这一发现引发了无数 关于病毒在海洋中的生态作用的问题。 这项研究将探讨遗传意义的 海洋环境中的病毒病毒可能是一个重要的 海洋溶解（0.2 μ m）核酸库的组成部分， 它们还具有改变细菌基因的潜力 通过转导和病毒介导的基因转移进行合并 转型 研究病毒的遗传学意义 在海洋环境中，本研究将进行以下三项工作： 研究目的：1）确定病毒丰度， 河口、沿海和近海环境， 地下沃茨，并开发直接病毒 沉积物中的计数。 病毒之间的关系 丰度和总（自养和异养）宿主池大小 将评估，以及与颗粒物和 溶解的DNA含量 2)为了确定 病毒中所含的微粒和溶解的核酸 河口、沿海和近海沃茨中的颗粒。 方法将 可以直接定量病毒DNA，并将其与 细菌的和“游离的”（即可溶的，与包封的相反 在海洋样品中。 3)以确定潜在的 在海洋环境中通过转导进行基因转移， 研究温和噬菌体和溶源性宿主的存在 细菌 使用分离的噬菌体-宿主系统和天然病毒 和细菌组合，该研究将确定是否存在 通过化学和物理诱导的温和噬菌体/溶原性宿主 裂解的过程。 一旦溶原细胞被鉴定出来， 在染色体DNA转移和广泛宿主范围的研究中， 质粒通过转导。 这项研究将开始， 回答病毒在海洋基因中的作用 池

Viruses are now known to be the most numerically dominant form of life in the world's oceans. This revelation has raised a myriad of questions concerning the ecological role of viruses in the oceans. This study will investigate the genetic significance of viruses in the marine environment. Viruses could be a significant component of the oceanic dissolved (0.2 um) nucleic acid pools and they also have the potential to alter bacterial gene pools by effecting gene transfer by transduction and viral mediated transformation. To investigate the gentic significance of viruses in the marine environment this study wil pursue the following three research objectives: 1) To determine viral abundance in estuarine, coastal, and offshore environments in surface and subsurface waters, and to develop methods for direct viral enumeration in sediments. The relationship between viral abundance and total (autotrophic and heterotrophic) host pool size will be assessed, as well as the relationship with particulate and dissolved DNA content. 2) To determine the proportion of particulate and dissolved nucleic acids that are contained in virus particles in estuarine, coastal, and offshore waters. Methods will be developed to quantitate viral DNA directly and relate it to bacterial and "free" (i.e. soluble as opposed to that encapsulated in virons) in oceanic samples. 3) To determine the potential for gene transfer by transduction in the marine environment by investigating the presence of temperate phage and lysogenic host bacteria. Using both isolated phage-host systems and natural viral and bacterial assemblages, the study will determine the presence of temperate phage/lysogenic hosts by chemical and physical induction of lysis. Once lysogens have been identified, these will be used in studies on the transfer of chromosomal DNA and broad host range plasmids by transduction. This research will begin to answer the questions of the role of viruses in the oceanic gene pool.