Influence of Viruses on Marine Prokaryotes in Canada’s Arctic Waters

Viruses are an abundant and dynamic component of marine microbial communities. The project will use information encoded in the genomes of viruses and their bacterial hosts to obtain a measure of the number of different types of viruses and bacterial species in Canadian Arctic waters. Additionally, the project will focus on the relationship between viral and bacterial communities by trying to identify patterns in their geographical distribution in response to changing environmental conditions such as temperature or salinity. Furthermore, markers suitable for identifying specific virus population will be developed and applied in order to identify viral survival strategies and infected bacterial species.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Curtis Suttle

Student:

Christian Winter

Partner:

Institute of Ocean Sciences

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Fisheries and wildlife

University:

University of British Columbia