Viruses of microorganisms in the Baltic Sea: current state of research and perspectives

Šulčius, Sigitas; Holmfeldt, Karin

doi:10.1080/17451000.2015.1118514

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(100 reference statements)

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“…To assess whether there is an association between genome size and host range we re‐analysed data from two studies of marine phages. Holmfeldt and colleagues characterized a taxonomically diverse collection of 40 phages isolated on 21 strains of the marine bacterium Cellulophaga baltica (Holmfeldt et al ., 2007; Holmfeldt et al ., 2016, Šulčius and Holmfeldt, 2016). Across these phages there is an overall positive correlation between host range and genome size, if host range is quantified as the proportion of 21 Cellulophaga strains infected (Fig.…”

Section: Do Larger Viruses Have Broader Host Ranges?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making sense of virus size and the tradeoffs shaping viral fitness

2020

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Viruses span an impressive size range, with genome length varying a thousandfold and virion volume nearly a millionfold. For cellular organisms the scaling of traits with size is a pervasive influence on ecological processes, but whether size plays a central role in viral ecology is unknown. Here, we focus on viruses of aquatic unicellular organisms, which exhibit the greatest known range of virus size. We outline hypotheses within a quantitative framework, and analyse data where available, to consider how size affects the primary components of viral fitness. We argue that larger viruses have fewer offspring per infection and slower contact rates with host cells, but a larger genome tends to increase infection efficiency, broaden host range, and potentially increase attachment success and decrease decay rate. These countervailing selective pressures may explain why a breadth of sizes exist and even coexist when infecting the same host populations. Oligotrophic ecosystems may be enriched in “giant” viruses, because environments with resource‐limited phagotrophs at low concentrations may select for broader host range, better control of host metabolism, lower decay rate and a physical size that mimics bacterial prey. Finally, we describe where further research is needed to understand the ecology and evolution of viral size diversity.

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Section: Do Larger Viruses Have Broader Host Ranges?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Host range vs. genome size in marine bacteriophages. (a) Host range (proportion of 21 strains infected) vs. genome size for Cellulophaga baltica phages (Šulčius and Holmfeldt, 2016). (b) Host range (proportion of 70 strains infected) vs. genome size for Pseudoalteromonas phages (Wichels et al ., 1998).…”

Section: Do Larger Viruses Have Broader Host Ranges?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Making sense of virus size and the tradeoffs shaping viral fitness

2020

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“…Fewer investigations have focused on Baltic Sea viruses, particularly those infecting ecologically relevant groups, including Cyanobacteria , Proteobacteria , and eukaryotic algae. Recently, Šulčius and Holmfeldt reviewed the status of viral research in the Baltic Sea and pointed to the significance of bacteriophage, particularly the most studied phages of the Bacteriodetes phylum ( 25 ). The anoxic waters of the Baltic Sea were found to have high levels of virally induced microbial mortality ( 26 ), and viral production was inversely correlated with total phosphorus levels, particularly in the Bothnian Bay region, in a more recent study ( 27 , 28 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Baltic Sea Virome: Diversity and Transcriptional Activity of DNA and RNA Viruses

et al. 2017

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Inferred virus-host relationships, community structures of ubiquitous ecologically relevant groups, and identification of transcriptionally active populations have been achieved with our Baltic Sea study. Further, these data, highlighting the transcriptional activity of viruses, represent one of the more powerful uses of omics concerning ecosystem health. The use of omics-related data to assess ecosystem health holds great promise for rapid and relatively inexpensive determination of perturbations and risk, explicitly with regard to viral assemblages, as no single marker gene is suitable for widespread taxonomic coverage.

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“…This points towards a shared ancestor of this viral type among phages infecting various Flavobacterium hosts in the Baltic Sea region. Besides this, no other close relationships were seen to previously isolated phages, even though phages infecting members of Flavobacteriaceae isolated from the Baltic Sea are relatively well-represented in culture collections [87], including the diverse Cellulophaga phage-host collection [37] and sea ice Flavobacterium phage 1/32 [88] ( Figure 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Diversity and Host Interactions among Virulent and Temperate Baltic Sea Flavobacterium Phages

Nilsson

Bayfield

Lundin

et al. 2020

Viruses

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Viruses in aquatic environments play a key role in microbial population dynamics and nutrient cycling. In particular, bacteria of the phylum Bacteriodetes are known to participate in recycling algal blooms. Studies of phage–host interactions involving this phylum are hence important to understand the processes shaping bacterial and viral communities in the ocean as well as nutrient cycling. In this study, we isolated and sequenced three strains of flavobacteria—LMO6, LMO9, LMO8—and 38 virulent phages infecting them. These phages represent 15 species, occupying three novel genera. Additionally, one temperate phage was induced from LMO6 and was found to be competent at infecting LMO9. Functions could be predicted for a limited number of phage genes, mainly representing roles in DNA replication and virus particle formation. No metabolic genes were detected. While the phages isolated on LMO8 could infect all three bacterial strains, the LMO6 and LMO9 phages could not infect LMO8. Of the phages isolated on LMO9, several showed a host-derived reduced efficiency of plating on LMO6, potentially due to differences in DNA methyltransferase genes. Overall, these phage–host systems contribute novel genetic information to our sequence databases and present valuable tools for the study of both virulent and temperate phages.

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Viruses of microorganisms in the Baltic Sea: current state of research and perspectives

Cited by 12 publications

References 55 publications

Making sense of virus size and the tradeoffs shaping viral fitness

Making sense of virus size and the tradeoffs shaping viral fitness

The Baltic Sea Virome: Diversity and Transcriptional Activity of DNA and RNA Viruses

Diversity and Host Interactions among Virulent and Temperate Baltic Sea Flavobacterium Phages

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