Project description
The role of phytoplankton viruses on marine ecology
In the open ocean, organic matter from the surface sinks into the abyss, transporting carbon and energy. Since viruses play a key role in controlling phytoplankton populations, they influence the dynamics of the carbon cycle in the marine ecosystem. Funded by the European Research Council, the InterDiVE project focuses on how viral infection affects diatoms, transparent algae that constitute a key component of the ocean’s phytoplankton. Researchers will investigate the context of diatom-virus interactions and provide insight into the associated environmental stressors. Expected results have a broader ecological implication, as they will help understand how ocean processes respond to global climate change.
Objective
Diatoms shape the global carbon cycle, contributing ~20% of primary production on the planet and nearly half of the carbon sequestration in the ocean. Marine viruses transform ecological, evolutionary and biogeochemical processes, yet the impact of viral infection on diatoms remains a fundamental gap in our understanding of microbial dynamics in the ocean. The landmark discovery of diatom-infecting viruses, together with advances in high throughput sequencing and imaging technologies now enable the exploration of diatom host-virus interactions at unprecedented resolution. We know very little about when, where and how viruses impact diatom populations, despite the potential for viral infection to radically alter diatom ecology and diatom-mediated biogeochemistry. Proposed work seeks to elucidate how virus infection of diatoms manifests along environmental and ecophysiological gradients in the ocean. Our team will pursue three complementary aims: (1) Characterize the impacts of environmental stress on virus production and virus-mediated mortality in diatoms; (2) Determine the ecophysiological frameworks that drive diatom host-virus dynamics; (3) Capture and contextualize diverse host-virus interactions throughout a diatom bloom. Using a multi-tiered and interdisciplinary approach that draws upon molecular biology, biogeochemistry and biological oceanography, we will interrogate diatom host-virus interactions across environmental gradients in model systems and natural communities. Amidst the urgency to decipher how ocean processes respond to global climate change, InterDiVE will provide invaluable ecological, ecophysiological, and molecular insight into how environmental conditions regulate diatom host-virus interactions, advancing our understanding of the microscale dynamics that underpin primary production and biogeochemical cycling in the global ocean.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyvirology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecology
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanets
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesoceanography
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeochemistrybiogeochemistry
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
52900 Ramat Gan
Israel