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Microorganisms
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Viruses of Plankton
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Viruses of Plankton

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 17262

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Kristina Mojica

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Marine Science, School of Ocean Science and Engineering, The University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis Space Center, Hancock County, MS 39529, USA
Interests: marine viral ecology; biological–physical interactions; marine microbial ecology; biological oceanography
Prof. Dr. Corina P.D. Brussaard

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research-NIOZ, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, The Netherlands
Interests: aquatic microbiology; viral ecology; microbial host–virus interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Viruses are the most abundant and diverse biological entities on the planet, and are ubiquitous in aquatic systems. The capacity of viruses to influence biodiversity, evolution, functioning of ecosystems, and global biogeochemical cycling is largely dictated by their interactions with planktonic hosts.

This Special Issue of Microorganisms aims to provide an overview of how our understanding of planktonic viruses has expanded since the discovery of their high abundance in aquatic systems over three decades ago. We welcome original (field, experimental, and modeling) research articles on the topics of virus and host population dynamics, diversity, and succession, as well planktonic host–virus interactions, biophysical interactions, rates of mortality, and their influence on aquatic food web functioning and biogeochemical cycling.

Dr. Kristina Mojica
Prof. Dr. Corina P.D. Brussaard
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • viral ecology
  • marine viruses
  • freshwater viruses
  • plankton host
  • virus–host interactions
  • diversity
  • population dynamics
  • biogeochemistry
  • aquatic microbiology

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

4 pages, 570 KiB  
Editorial
Viruses of Plankton: On the Edge of the Viral Frontier
by Kristina D. A. Mojica and Corina P. D. Brussaard
Microorganisms 2024, 12(1), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12010031 - 23 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1621
Abstract
The field of aquatic viral ecology has continued to evolve rapidly over the last three decades [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Plankton)
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Research

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19 pages, 2919 KiB  
Article
Ecological Importance of Viral Lysis as a Loss Factor of Phytoplankton in the Amundsen Sea
by Charlotte Eich, Tristan E. G. Biggs, Willem H. van de Poll, Mathijs van Manen, Hung-An Tian, Jinyoung Jung, Youngju Lee, Rob Middag and Corina P. D. Brussaard
Microorganisms 2022, 10(10), 1967; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10101967 - 5 Oct 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2467
Abstract
Whether phytoplankton mortality is caused by grazing or viral lysis has important implications for phytoplankton dynamics and biogeochemical cycling. The ecological relevance of viral lysis for Antarctic phytoplankton is still under-studied. The Amundsen Sea is highly productive in spring and summer, especially in [...] Read more.
Whether phytoplankton mortality is caused by grazing or viral lysis has important implications for phytoplankton dynamics and biogeochemical cycling. The ecological relevance of viral lysis for Antarctic phytoplankton is still under-studied. The Amundsen Sea is highly productive in spring and summer, especially in the Amundsen Sea Polynya (ASP), and very sensitive to global warming-induced ice-melt. This study reports on the importance of the viral lysis, compared to grazing, of pico- and nanophytoplankton, using the modified dilution method (based on apparent growth rates) in combination with flow cytometry and size fractionation. Considerable viral lysis was shown for all phytoplankton populations, independent of sampling location and cell size. In contrast, the average grazing rate was 116% higher for the larger nanophytoplankton, and grazing was also higher in the ASP (0.45 d−1 vs. 0.30 d−1 outside). Despite average specific viral lysis rates being lower than grazing rates (0.17 d−1 vs. 0.29 d−1), the average amount of phytoplankton carbon lost was similar (0.6 µg C L−1 d−1 each). The viral lysis of the larger-sized phytoplankton populations (including diatoms) and the high lysis rates of the abundant P. antarctica contributed substantially to the carbon lost. Our results demonstrate that viral lysis is a principal loss factor to consider for Southern Ocean phytoplankton communities and ecosystem production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Plankton)
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20 pages, 3019 KiB  
Article
The Viral Fraction Metatranscriptomes of Lake Baikal
by Sergey Potapov, Andrey Krasnopeev, Irina Tikhonova, Galina Podlesnaya, Anna Gorshkova and Olga Belykh
Microorganisms 2022, 10(10), 1937; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10101937 - 29 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3007
Abstract
This article characterises viral fraction metatranscriptomes (smaller than 0.2 µm) from the pelagic zone of oligotrophic Lake Baikal (Russia). The study revealed the dominance of transcripts of DNA viruses: bacteriophages and algal viruses. We identified transcripts similar to Pithovirus sibericum, a nucleocytoplasmic [...] Read more.
This article characterises viral fraction metatranscriptomes (smaller than 0.2 µm) from the pelagic zone of oligotrophic Lake Baikal (Russia). The study revealed the dominance of transcripts of DNA viruses: bacteriophages and algal viruses. We identified transcripts similar to Pithovirus sibericum, a nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (NCLDV) isolated from the permafrost region of Eastern Siberia. Among the families detected were RNA viruses assigned to Retroviridae, Metaviridae, Potyviridae, Astroviridae, and Closteroviridae. Using the PHROG, SEED subsystems databases, and the VOGDB, we indicated that the bulk of transcripts belong to the functional replication of viruses. In a comparative unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) analysis, the transcripts from Lake Baikal formed a separate cluster included in the clade with transcripts from other freshwater lakes, as well as marine and oceanic waters, while there was no separation based on the trophic state of the water bodies, the size of the plankton fraction, or salinity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Plankton)
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17 pages, 2990 KiB  
Article
Record-Breaking Rain Event Altered Estuarine Viral Assemblages
by Alaina C. Woods, Jordan R. Walker, Cameron D. Jackson and Jessica M. Labonté
Microorganisms 2022, 10(4), 729; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10040729 - 29 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3095
Abstract
Viruses are the dominant biological entity in the ocean, play a vital role in biogeochemical cycles, and provide their hosts with novel metabolic capabilities through auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs). Hurricane Harvey was a category 4 hurricane that made landfall on the Texas coast [...] Read more.
Viruses are the dominant biological entity in the ocean, play a vital role in biogeochemical cycles, and provide their hosts with novel metabolic capabilities through auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs). Hurricane Harvey was a category 4 hurricane that made landfall on the Texas coast in 2017 and lashed the Houston area with 1.4–1.7 × 1010 m3 of rainfall. In this paper, we aim to characterize how the changes in abiotic conditions brought by Hurricane Harvey altered the viral assemblages of Galveston Bay at the taxonomic level and determine how viral ecosystem functions were altered. Metagenomes of the viruses and their hosts were sequenced from a transect in Galveston Bay over the five weeks following the storm. Our results show that the viral assemblages of Galveston Bay dramatically changed following Hurricane Harvey’s landfall. Of the abiotic parameters measured, salinity had the strongest effect on shaping the viral assemblages. In the five weeks following Hurricane Harvey, there was a steady increase of metabolic genes and putative viral infections. Our study provides the first in-depth look at how marine viral assemblages respond and recover from extreme rainfall events, which models predict will become more frequent and intense with climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Plankton)
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10 pages, 1249 KiB  
Article
Catalysis of Chlorovirus Production by the Foraging of Bursaria truncatella on Paramecia bursaria Containing Endosymbiotic Algae
by Zeina T. Al-Ameeli, Maitham A. Al-Sammak, John P. DeLong, David D. Dunigan and James L. Van Etten
Microorganisms 2021, 9(10), 2170; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9102170 - 18 Oct 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2542
Abstract
Chloroviruses are large viruses that replicate in chlorella-like green algae and normally exist as mutualistic endosymbionts (referred to as zoochlorellae) in protists such as Paramecium bursaria. Chlorovirus populations rise and fall in indigenous waters through time; however, the factors involved in these [...] Read more.
Chloroviruses are large viruses that replicate in chlorella-like green algae and normally exist as mutualistic endosymbionts (referred to as zoochlorellae) in protists such as Paramecium bursaria. Chlorovirus populations rise and fall in indigenous waters through time; however, the factors involved in these virus fluctuations are still under investigation. Chloroviruses attach to the surface of P. bursaria but cannot infect their zoochlorellae hosts because the viruses cannot reach the zoochlorellae as long as they are in the symbiotic phase. Predators of P. bursaria, such as copepods and didinia, can bring chloroviruses into contact with zoochlorellae by disrupting the paramecia, which results in an increase in virus titers in microcosm experiments. Here, we report that another predator of P. bursaria, Bursaria truncatella, can also increase chlorovirus titers. After two days of foraging on P. bursaria, B. truncatella increased infectious chlorovirus abundance about 20 times above the controls. Shorter term foraging (3 h) resulted in a small increase of chlorovirus titers over the controls and more foraging generated more chloroviruses. Considering that B. truncatella does not release viable zoochlorellae either during foraging or through fecal pellets, where zoochlorellae could be infected by chlorovirus, we suggest a third pathway of predator virus catalysis. By engulfing the entire protist and digesting it slowly, virus replication can occur within the predator and some of the virus is passed out through a waste vacuole. These results provide additional support for the hypothesis that predators of P. bursaria are important drivers of chlorovirus population sizes and dynamics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Plankton)
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Review

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21 pages, 1025 KiB  
Review
Pathogens and Passengers: Roles for Crustacean Zooplankton Viruses in the Global Ocean
by Alastair J. Roberts and Curtis A. Suttle
Microorganisms 2023, 11(4), 1054; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11041054 - 18 Apr 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3040
Abstract
Viruses infect all living organisms, but the viruses of most marine animals are largely unknown. Crustacean zooplankton are a functional lynchpin in marine food webs, but very few have been interrogated for their associated viruses despite the profound potential effects of viral infection. [...] Read more.
Viruses infect all living organisms, but the viruses of most marine animals are largely unknown. Crustacean zooplankton are a functional lynchpin in marine food webs, but very few have been interrogated for their associated viruses despite the profound potential effects of viral infection. Nonetheless, it is clear that the diversity of viruses in crustacean zooplankton is enormous, including members of all realms of RNA viruses, as well as single- and double-stranded DNA viruses, in many cases representing deep branches of viral evolution. As there is clear evidence that many of these viruses infect and replicate in zooplankton species, we posit that viral infection is likely responsible for a significant portion of unexplained non-consumptive mortality in this group. In turn, this infection affects food webs and alters biogeochemical cycling. In addition to the direct impacts of infection, zooplankton can vector economically devastating viruses of finfish and other crustaceans. The dissemination of these viruses is facilitated by the movement of zooplankton vertically between epi- and mesopelagic communities through seasonal and diel vertical migration (DVM) and across long distances in ship ballast water. The large potential impact of viruses on crustacean zooplankton emphasises the need to clearly establish the relationships between specific viruses and the zooplankton they infect and investigate disease and mortality for these host–virus pairs. Such data will enable investigations into a link between viral infection and seasonal dynamics of host populations. We are only beginning to uncover the diversity and function of viruses associated with crustacean zooplankton. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Plankton)
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