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Virus-bacteria-protist intercations under future ocean conditions

Subject Area Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
Term from 2010 to 2012
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 173048332
 
This project aims at improving the assessment and predictability of ocean biology feedbacks to expected climate change. In particular, the potential response patterns of temperate/arctic pelagic microbial food webs will be studied from a virus-oriented perspective. In order to obtain a mechanistic understanding of prospective responses and structuring mechanisms in microbial assemblages, small-scale perturbation experiments will be performed manipulating various relevant abiotic climate change stressors. While focusing on ocean warming, this project will particularly account for non-linear response patterns and (interactive) synergistic or antagonistic effects of warming in combination with other factors (e.g. nutrients, salinity). Using microbial communities of different complexity (e.g. size-fractionated in situ samples, cultures/virus-host systems), responses in biotic interactions (e.g. viral lysis, protist predation) to abiotic forcing will be investigated. Within a community ecological framework, experiments will analyse activity-diversity relationships and features such as stability and resilience. Changes in viral, bacterial and protist abundances will be detected and combined with molecular biological community analyses and a functional assemblage profiling. Moreover, these studies will be closely linked to a partner project of Dr. Julia Wohlers investigating the ultimate consequences of community changes for the associated biogeochemical cycling and microbial processing of organic matter.
DFG Programme Research Fellowships
International Connection Norway
 
 

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