Characterization of viruses infecting alexandrium fundyense

感染亚历山大藻的病毒的特征

• 批准号: 262964-2006
• 负责人: Lawrence, Janice
• 金额: $ 2.09万
• 依托单位: University of New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2007-01-01 至 2008-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=362289
• 关键词: Characterization; viruses; infecting; alexandrium; fundyense

Harmful algal blooms, such as the annual blooms or "red tides" of Alexandrium fundyense in the Bay of Fundy, NB, have caused substantial monetary losses to the aquaculture industry. This algal species causes shellfish toxicity, fish kills, human illness and death in coastal areas around the world. Viral infection has only recently been appreciated for its role in influencing the population dynamics of phytoplankton. It is now recognized that viral infections become especially important during algal blooms when phytoplankton cells are highly concentrated, since the rate of infection is dependent on the density of host cells. However, there are currently very few algal viruses isolated and characterized. I have recently isolated a novel lytic agent from the Bay of Fundy that causes the lysis of A. fundyense laboratory cultures within 5 days of inoculation. Evidence gathered to this date suggests that the lytic agent is viral. This is a proposal to further characterize this virus, including determining its biological nature, examining its relatedness to known algal viruses, and examining its the role in mediating populations of its host, A. fundyense. By better understanding the basic biology of this novel virus, and examining the season abundance of the virus and the rates of its production and decay, we will be able to develop a model for how viruses may mediate red tides. This will provide the scientific community with information critical for developing management strategies for our coastal resources. Very few algal viruses have been successfully isolated and cultured to date despite the mounting evidence of their importance in controlling host community composition and diversity, nutrient cycling, and acting as vectors for genetic transfer. Further characterization of the novel agent I have isolated will not only provide critical information on the role of viruses in A. fundyense blooms, but will also contribute significantly to our understanding of aquatic microbial interactions in general.

有害的藻类水华，如北卡罗来纳州芬迪湾的亚历山大藻水华或赤潮，给水产养殖业造成了巨大的金钱损失。这种藻类在世界沿海地区造成贝类毒性、鱼类死亡、人类疾病和死亡。直到最近，病毒感染才因其在影响浮游植物种群动态中的作用而受到重视。现在人们认识到，在浮游植物细胞高度集中的藻华期间，病毒感染变得特别重要，因为感染率取决于宿主细胞的密度。然而，目前分离和鉴定的藻类病毒很少。我最近从芬迪湾分离出了一种新的裂解剂，它能在接种后5天内使真菌实验室培养物裂解。到目前为止收集的证据表明，裂解剂是病毒。这是一项进一步描述这种病毒特征的建议，包括确定其生物学性质，检查其与已知藻类病毒的相关性，以及检查其在调节其宿主A.fundyense种群中的作用。通过更好地了解这种新型病毒的基本生物学，并检测这种病毒的季节丰度及其产生和衰退的速度，我们将能够开发一个病毒如何调节赤潮的模型。这将为科学界提供对制定我国沿海资源管理战略至关重要的信息。到目前为止，成功分离和培养的藻类病毒很少，尽管越来越多的证据表明，它们在控制宿主群落的组成和多样性、营养循环和作为遗传转移的载体方面具有重要意义。对我所分离的新制剂的进一步表征不仅将提供关于病毒在真菌水华中所起作用的关键信息，而且还将有助于我们从总体上了解水生微生物的相互作用。