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Published on: May 31, 2016
The mutual interplay between calcification and coccolithovirus infection.
Christopher T Johns1, Austin R Grubb1, Jozef I Nissimov1
1Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA.
Marine coccolithophores’ calcification influences their susceptibility to coccolithoviruses (EhVs). Reduced calcification increases EhV infection and production, impacting ocean carbon cycling.
Area of Science:
- Marine microbiology
- Phycology
- Virology
Background:
- Marine coccolithophores, like Emiliania huxleyi, produce calcium carbonate plates (coccoliths).
- Coccolithoviruses (EhVs) infect and impact coccolithophore populations.
- Variations in calcification and EhV susceptibility exist within coccolithophore strains.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between cellular calcification and EhV infection in Emiliania huxleyi.
- To determine how calcification state affects EhV adsorption, replication, and host cell physiology.
Main Methods:
- Challenging various Emiliania huxleyi strains at different calcification states with EhVs of varying virulence.
- Quantifying cellular calcification, EhV infection, and EhV production.
- Analyzing adsorption coefficients and abundance of sialic acid glycosphingolipids.
- Observing physiological changes in host cells using optical side scatter signals.
Main Results:
- Reduced cellular calcification correlated with increased EhV infection and EhV production.
- Calcified cells and coccoliths exhibited higher EhV adsorption coefficients.
- Sialic acid glycosphingolipids, implicated in EhV infection, were more abundant in calcified cells and coccoliths.
- Viable EhVs induced significant changes in cellular calcification and coccolith release, even without lysis.
Conclusions:
- Calcification is a critical factor in the Emiliania huxleyi-EhV host-virus interaction.
- Understanding calcification's role is vital for modeling marine host-virus dynamics and their impact on the global carbon cycle.
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