Investigating the Diversity of Single-Stranded DNA Bacteriophages in Marine Environments

Download or read book Investigating the Diversity of Single-Stranded DNA Bacteriophages in Marine Environments written by Max Stephen Hopkins and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The data was aggregated in several informative ways. Multiple alignments were combined with a predicted 3D-structure to reveal regions of both high and low conservation. Viewed in a phylogenetic framework, many gokushovirus MCP clades contained samples from multiple environments, although distinct clades dominated the different sample types. Some environments, particularly pelagic sediments, appear as hotbeds of gokushovirus diversity, while freshwater springs were the least diverse. The second chapter used the same primer set to detect gokushovirus communities at 0 m and 100 m depth in two seasons from three years at the Bermuda Atlantic Time- series Study (BATS) site. As a result of twenty-six years of constant sampling, the annual hydrodynamic cycling of BATS is very well understood. This wealth of knowledge allows us to hypothesize that the winter deep mixing layer will act to connect the viral communities between 0 m and 100 m. Conversely, in summer when stratification occurs, viral communities at the two depths will become divergent. We find compelling evidence to support this hypothesis. The final chapter of this thesis details continuing efforts to characterize the first non-tailed, single-stranded DNA, temperate phage to infect a member of the globally important genus of marine autotroph, Synechococcus. Efforts undertaken have spanned genomic, metagenomic and proteomic methodologies. The lack of culturable, phage-host model systems for small, single-stranded DNA phages is today one of the most glaring impediments to increased understanding of these viruses. In combination with the data presented on environmental diversity, steps taken towards establishing this Synechococcus phage as a culturable model system makes this thesis a major contribution to the understanding of environmental ssDNA phages.