From Ecology To Physiology: Ecology of phytoplankton-virus interactions with emphasis on their effect on Carbon Acquisition

• Applicant: Professorin Elisa Schaum, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems ; Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 471040156

Small phytoplankton and their associated viruses are crucial for ocean ecosystem function and services. Our understanding about how phytoplankton species react to changes in their environment has improved over the last decade, but how these reactions are modified by biological interactions remains understudied. We will shed light on how virus-host interactions, and thereby their contributions to carbon cycling, are affected on a phenotypic level by changes in temperature brought on by the climate crisis. To achieve this, we will carry out a suite of experiments, spanning space-for-time substitutions (East to Western Baltic Sea and North Sea), empirical manipulations and physiological measurements in the laboratory. Together, these approaches will yield crucial conceptual and applicable insights into i) the phenotype-environment matrix for an ecologically relevant aquatic host-virus pair, ii) the phenotypes of hosts and viruses we can expect across changing environments, iii) where we may find changes in carbon cycling driven by altered host-virus interactions in future environments.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Luisa Listmann