Ecology and biology of aquatic viruses and their microbial hosts in a changing climate.

气候变化中水生病毒及其微生物宿主的生态学和生物学。

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-03350
• 负责人: Nissimov, Jozef
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: University of Waterloo
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=745837
• 关键词: Ecology; biology; aquatic; viruses; their

Today a virus is most commonly thought of as a critical threat, particularly to human life. But viral infection is not unique to humans, nor does it always cause disease. We know that in the ocean viruses play a diverse role and have complex relationships with aquatic microorganisms. They can control algal bloom formation, drive processes such as nutrient flow through food webs and stimulate the sequestration of carbon. It is recognized that, collectively, viruses make an important contribution to global ecosystem function, to the health of aquatic habitats, and to buffering the effects of climate change. However, we still lack critical understanding of how climate change and the build-up of excessive nutrients (eutrophication) may affect the ecology of aquatic viruses, their microbial hosts, and the consequences of their interactions. In freshwater systems for example, including Canadian watersheds, rising temperatures and nutrient levels have driven an increase in harmful algal blooms (HABs) that threaten ecosystem health and reliant economies such as aquaculture and tourism. We need to understand the extent to which viruses control populations of these harmful algae and whether that ability might be diminished in a changing environment. Such understanding is essential for stakeholders and decision-makers to predict how the health and function of aquatic ecosystems may change in the future, and whether mitigation strategies are likely to be successful. This proposal will lay the foundations for a research program that will address these questions. It will investigate (i) the ecology and success of environmentally-important viruses and their hosts, and (ii) their co-evolutionary dynamics and adaptation to climate change and eutrophication. Experiments with select algae, bacteria and viruses as models will be linked to observations in the more complex natural environment in which they occur. The outputs of the work will improve ecosystem models of microbial interactions in aquatic environments and our understanding of the ecological role of aquatic viruses and their hosts in a changing climate. This research will also provide new knowledge on algal and bacterial biology during infection and improve our general understanding of viruses that vary in size, genomic structure and the mechanisms that they employ to kill their hosts. The use of state-of-the-art culturing facilities and analytical methods for microbiology and molecular biology to address the specific research questions of this proposal (in support of the overarching goals of the research program; i & ii) will allow us to bridge the gap between findings from the laboratory and field. Critically, the proposed program will also foster the development of future leaders, providing them with the knowledge and technical expertise to pursue successful careers in virology and ecology or engage in high-impact environmental consultancy at the interface of science and decision-making.

今天，病毒通常被认为是一种严重威胁，特别是对人类生命的威胁。但病毒感染并非人类独有，也并不总是会导致疾病。我们知道，在海洋中，病毒扮演着不同的角色，与水生微生物有着复杂的关系。它们可以控制藻华的形成，推动食物网中养分流动等过程，并刺激碳的固存。人们认识到，总的来说，病毒对全球生态系统功能、水生生境的健康和缓冲气候变化的影响作出了重要贡献。然而，我们仍然缺乏对气候变化和过度营养物质（富营养化）的积累如何影响水生病毒、它们的微生物宿主的生态以及它们相互作用的后果的关键理解。例如，在包括加拿大流域在内的淡水系统中，气温和营养水平的上升导致有害藻华（HABs）的增加，威胁到生态系统的健康和依赖水产养殖和旅游业等经济。我们需要了解病毒控制这些有害藻类种群的程度，以及这种能力是否会在不断变化的环境中减弱。这种了解对于利益攸关方和决策者预测未来水生生态系统的健康和功能可能如何变化以及缓解战略是否可能成功至关重要。这项提案将为解决这些问题的研究计划奠定基础。它将调查(i)对环境重要的病毒及其宿主的生态学和成功，以及（ii）它们的共同进化动态和对气候变化和富营养化的适应。以选定的藻类、细菌和病毒为模型进行的实验将与在更复杂的自然环境中进行的观察联系起来。这项工作的成果将改进水生环境中微生物相互作用的生态系统模型，以及我们对水生病毒及其宿主在气候变化中的生态作用的理解。这项研究还将提供关于感染过程中藻类和细菌生物学的新知识，并提高我们对大小、基因组结构和它们用来杀死宿主的机制不同的病毒的一般理解。使用最先进的培养设施和微生物学和分子生物学的分析方法来解决本提案的具体研究问题（支持研究计划的总体目标；i和ii）将使我们能够弥合实验室和现场研究结果之间的差距。至关重要的是，拟议的计划还将促进未来领导者的发展，为他们提供知识和技术专长，以追求病毒学和生态学的成功事业，或在科学和决策的界面上从事高影响力的环境咨询。