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Dawn Goldsmith Email: goldsmithdawnb@yahoo.com Phone: (727) 553-3930; FAX: (727) 553-1189
Abundance, Dynamics, and Diversity of Viruses in the Northwestern Sargasso Sea Viruses are ubiquitous, abundant, and dynamic components of marine communities. The majority of marine viruses are phage (viruses that infect bacteria). Viruses influence global carbon and nutrient cycles, regulate the composition of marine bacterial communities, and play a major role in horizontal gene transfer. Recent studies have revealed an enormous diversity of viruses in the oceans; however, most in-depth studies of viral diversity have focused on a single sample – a snapshot in space and time. Since bacterial and viral communities are dynamic in nature (rapid infection, production, decay), snapshots of diversity are inadequate for describing the microbial ecology of marine systems. This project will examine the abundance, diversity, and dynamics of viruses over a depth profile at Hydrostation S in the northwestern Sargasso Sea. Viral abundance throughout a depth profile will be determined monthly by direct microscopic counts and changes in the composition of the viral community will be monitored using molecular methods (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, hybridization against microarrays, and PCR for specific phage genes). Rates of virus production and decay, as well as the impact of viruses on the bacterial community, will be determined. Finally, this project will examine the ecology of the marine single-stranded DNA Microphage, a newly described viral group found to be abundant in the Sargasso Sea. The goal of this project is to produce a comprehensive dataset on the spatial and temporal variation of the viral community at this site and determine if there are recurring (and thus predictable) patterns in viral abundance and diversity. This project is a collaboration with Craig Carlson, and is funded by a Microbial Interactions and Processes grant from the National Science Foundation. Experience:
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