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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2006, p. 7829-7834, Vol. 72, No. 12
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01207-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Virus-Specific Responses of Heterosigma akashiwo to Infection{triangledown}

Janice E. Lawrence,1* Corina P. D. Brussaard,2 and Curtis A. Suttle3

Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Bag Service 45111, Fredericton E3B 6E1, New Brunswick, Canada,1 Department of Biological Oceanography, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, P.O. Box 59, Den Burg NL-1790 AB, The Netherlands,2 Departments of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Botany, and Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd., Vancouver V6T 1Z4, British Columbia, Canada3

Received 24 May 2006/ Accepted 5 October 2006

We used flow cytometry to examine the process of cell death in the bloom-forming alga Heterosigma akashiwo during infection by a double-stranded DNA virus (OIs1) and a single-stranded RNA virus (H. akashiwo RNA virus [HaRNAV]). These viruses were isolated from the same geographic area and infect the same strain of H. akashiwo. By use of the live/dead stains fluorescein diacetate and SYTOX green as indicators of cellular physiology, cells infected with OIs1 showed signs of infection earlier than HaRNAV-infected cultures (6 to 17 h versus 23 to 29 h). Intracellular esterase activity was lost prior to increased membrane permeability during infection with OIs1, while the opposite was seen with HaRNAV-infected cultures. In addition, OIs1-infected cells accumulated in the cultures while HaRNAV-infected cells rapidly disintegrated. Progeny OIs1 viruses consisted of large and small morphotypes with estimated latent periods of 11 and 17 h, respectively, and about 1,100 and 16,000 viruses produced per cell, respectively. In contrast, HaRNAV produced about 21,000 viruses per cell and had a latent period of 29 h. This study reveals that the characteristics of viral infection in algae are virus dependent and therefore are variable among viruses infecting the same species. This is an important consideration for ecosystem modeling exercises; calculations based on in situ measurements of algal physiology must be sensitive to the diverse responses of algae to viral infection.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Bag Service 45111, Fredericton E3B 6E1, New Brunswick, Canada. Phone: (506) 458-7842. Fax: (506) 453-3583. E-mail: jlawrenc{at}unb.ca.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 13 October 2006.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2006, p. 7829-7834, Vol. 72, No. 12
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01207-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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