Environmental Gradients as Drivers of Virus-Mediated Microbial Evolution
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC 137B
Start Date
16-5-2013
End Date
16-5-2013
Abstract
Bacterial viruses (phage) influence microbial community structure and genetic diversity through selective pressure resulting from viral parasitism, but also more directly by horizontal transfer of DNA between bacteria in a process called transduction. Environmental stress can induce and accelerate transduction, a situation often made obvious in extreme environments. Soap Lake is an alkaline, permanently stratified lake that has maintained its meromixis for over 2,000 years. Its deep monimolimnion layer provides an environment of great physical and chemical stability. The half meter chemocline zone that separates the lower and upper lake layers bridges temperature differentials, is an oxic/anoxic interface, and transitions a hypersaline zone (141 gL-1 TDS) to a brackish one (12-16 gL-1 TDS). Since rapid changes in environmental conditions can induce viral transduction events, these areas should have larger populations of phage, and the prokaryotes inhabiting these areas will experience greater rates of viral infection (and subsequent gene transfers) than more stable environments. This project measured viral abundance and host infection rates along these gradients, and compared those data to the viral populations and host infection rates in the highly stable zones. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for differences in host populations and phage infection rates between sampling dates and collection sites.
Recommended Citation
Adams, Laura, "Environmental Gradients as Drivers of Virus-Mediated Microbial Evolution" (2013). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2013/oralpresentations/1
Additional Mentoring Department
Biological Sciences
Environmental Gradients as Drivers of Virus-Mediated Microbial Evolution
SURC 137B
Bacterial viruses (phage) influence microbial community structure and genetic diversity through selective pressure resulting from viral parasitism, but also more directly by horizontal transfer of DNA between bacteria in a process called transduction. Environmental stress can induce and accelerate transduction, a situation often made obvious in extreme environments. Soap Lake is an alkaline, permanently stratified lake that has maintained its meromixis for over 2,000 years. Its deep monimolimnion layer provides an environment of great physical and chemical stability. The half meter chemocline zone that separates the lower and upper lake layers bridges temperature differentials, is an oxic/anoxic interface, and transitions a hypersaline zone (141 gL-1 TDS) to a brackish one (12-16 gL-1 TDS). Since rapid changes in environmental conditions can induce viral transduction events, these areas should have larger populations of phage, and the prokaryotes inhabiting these areas will experience greater rates of viral infection (and subsequent gene transfers) than more stable environments. This project measured viral abundance and host infection rates along these gradients, and compared those data to the viral populations and host infection rates in the highly stable zones. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for differences in host populations and phage infection rates between sampling dates and collection sites.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Holly Pinkart