SGER: Assessing Abundance and Diversity of RNA-containing Viruses in Seawater

病毒是海洋微生物食物网中普遍存在、数量丰富且具有重要生态意义的组成部分。它们导致几乎每一种海洋生物的疾病和死亡，但海洋病毒组合的多样性仍然缺乏特征。此前，间接证据表明，海洋中的大部分病毒都具有双链DNA基因组，而描述海洋病毒多样性的非培养尝试迄今为止几乎完全集中在DNA病毒上。然而，越来越多的证据表明，许多具有RNA基因组的新型病毒存在于海洋浮游病毒中，它们不仅感染较大的海洋动物，而且感染各种类型的数量丰富和生态重要的浮游生物，包括硅藻，植鞭毛虫和细菌。令人惊讶的是，海洋环境中RNA与DNA基因组病毒的实际相对丰度仍然未知。 该项目的总体目标是制定方法，以估计RNA病毒的相对丰度，并评估其在海洋贫营养区和富营养区的多样性。 开发准确解释海水中病毒多样性全谱的能力是创建研究这一重要海洋微生物生态所需的分子工具的必要的第一步。 其他更广泛的影响包括参加夏威夷大学海洋与科学技术学院举行的年度开放日，该活动在两天内吸引了数千名游客，包括来自50多所夏威夷学校的K-12学校团体。为了这些努力，我们将创建关于海洋中浮游生物和病毒的重要性以及我们用于调查它们的技术的交互式显示。该项目的博士后和学生参与者将沉浸在跨学科的合作研究环境中，获得使用新方法的实践经验。

Viruses are an ubiquitous, abundant, and ecologically important component of marine microbial food webs. They contribute to the disease and mortality of essentially every type of marine life, yet the diversity of marine viral assemblages remains poorly characterized. Previous, indirect evidence suggested that the bulk of the viruses in the sea have double-stranded DNA genomes and cultivation-independent attempts to describe marine viral diversity have so far focused almost exclusively on DNA viruses. Evidence is accumulating, however, that many novel viruses having RNA genomes exist in the marine virioplankton and that they infect not only larger marine animals, but also diverse types of numerically abundant and ecologically important plankton including diatoms, phytoflagellates, and bacteria. Surprisingly, the actual relative abundance in marine environments of viruses with RNA vs DNA genomes is still not known. The overall goal of this project is to develop methods for estimating the relative abundance of RNA viruses and for assessing their diversity in oligotrophic and eutrophic areas of the ocean. Developing the ability to accurately account for the full spectrum of viral diversity in seawater is a necessary first step toward creating the molecular tools required to investigate the ecology of this important group of marine microorganisms. Additional broader impacts include participation in the annual open house held by the School of Ocean and Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii, which draws thousands of visitors over two days including K-12 school groups from over 50 Oahu schools. For these efforts we will create interactive display on the importance of plankton and viruses in the sea and the technology we use to investigate them. Post-doctoral and student participants in the project will be immersed in an interdisciplinary, collaborative research environment gaining hands-on experience in the use of novel methods.