A model of algal‐virus population dynamics reveals underlying controls on material transfer

Abstract

The influence of viruses on nutrient cycles and energy transfer in aquatic systems is important, yet still being determined. We developed a dynamic model to capture the population dynamics of algal hosts and their viruses. The model was fitted to literature data of population dynamics during laboratory one‐step infection experiments. Model parameters that underlie population dynamics were quantified in diverse algal groups, covering 7 different algal classes, 14 different host genera, and 32 different virus genotypes. The hypothesis that trade‐offs exist between traits that underlie population dynamics was evaluated. We report a possible virus size‐dependent trade‐off between the rate at which viruses can initiate infection, and the efficiency of carbon transfer from hosts to viruses upon lysis. We hypothesize that slower rates of infection in large viruses, due to slower rates of molecular diffusion, are compensated by enhanced utilization of host resources. Our approach provides a quantitative trait‐framework for understanding and quantifying virus activity in diverse natural communities.

Accounting for Cellular-Level Variation in Lysis: Implications for Virus-Host Dynamics

“…The present approach extends efforts leveraging model fitting to characterize viral life history traits [12,[39][40][41][42]. Similar to the modeling structure proposed here, other models of virus-host dynamics have incorporated explicit treatment of multiple infection compartments as an approximation to the delay between infection and lysis [12,39,43]. In these cases, the model interpretation does not link variability in the latent period with impacts on the estimate of the latent period itself.…”