Abstract
Viruses are usually thought of as the cause of countless diseases. However, in the oceans, viruses are part of the natural cycle of life and death. This article discusses marine viruses that infect phytoplankton—the tiny micro-algae that form the base of the marine food web and affect Earth’s climate. Through an ongoing “arms race” between viruses and the cells they infect, viruses can promote the evolution of their hosts, and even help their hosts acquire genes that can help them survive. By killing phytoplankton species that become very abundant, viruses can allow other species to grow, promoting biodiversity. Finally, viruses affect global cycles of carbon and other elements, indirectly influencing the climate of our planet.
Highlights
AGE: Viruses are usually thought of as the cause of countless diseases
The virus is only an empty shell, but its genome is like a malicious code that takes over the host cell and forces it to become a factory for producing new viruses
Many viruses are quite simple, with a malicious code that includes very few “commands”. Some of these commands shut down the natural processes inside the cell, whereas other commands instruct the cell to produce the building blocks that assemble into new viruses—the viral genome, the proteins that build the capsid, and sometimes the fat layer
Summary
Organism in which a virus can reproduce. The host must have the right receptors that the virus can identify. Microscopic organisms that obtain their energy from the sun by photosynthesis. They are an important component of all aquatic food webs. Viruses a ect the health of the organisms they infect and entire ecosystems. Because of the ecological importance of phytoplankton, the viruses that infect them have been studied in detail (Figure ) [ , ]. A protein shell that protects the genomic material of the virus, during its search for a new host to infect. Each virus identifies specific receptor/s on the surface of its host
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