DIAVIR — Diatom viruses and their role in organic matter cycling in the coastal seas
Diatom viruses and their role in organic matter cycling in the coastal seas
Now that the cultures are in good condition I could start an experiment looking into how viral infection plays into aggregation and particle distribution over time. I will be using instruments such as the LYSST to measure particle distributions.
I will be at Rutgers University in the lab of prof. Kay Bidle and dr. Kim Thramatrakoln from 1.3.2024-1.8.2024.
We will be looking into various aspects of viral infection of our host system Pseudo-nitzschia galaxiae. The group is world-leading in diatom and coccolithophorid virus research, particularly in relation to carbon export and aggregation!
We were able to obtain 3 full genomes of novel diatom viruses from RNA in the lysates.
The data is in the proces of publication!
In May 2023 we carried out a infection progression experiment together with dr. Tinkara Tinta and master student on ERASMUS internship Annaëlle Boeffel.
The experiment consisted of 3 control and 3 virus treatment batches of 1 liter. We measured DOC, nutrients, diatom, bacterial abundance, viral abundance, bacterial 16S tags, and diatom transcriptomes. The data is currently being analyzed and a qPCR assay for the determination of viral loads in the experiment is being tested. Here’s a pic of how the cultures looked after the experiment:
The first three are virus treatments and the last three are controls. There is clearly much more “brown” color in the controls, whereas the viral treatments look diluted and discolored. Stay tuned!
On Thursday, 17.11.2022, we have successfully preamplified RNA from a series of diatom cultures lysates that could stem from viral infection. This RNA will be subsequently sequenced and viromes will be constructed.
The experiment showing controls and flasks infected with viruses
