Ecology and diversity of marine viruses on the Canadian Arctic Shelf, Arctic Ocean ...

• Main Author: Payet, Jérôme Patrice
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2012
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0053494; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0053494

Viruses are the most abundant, ubiquitous and diverse biological entities in the world’s oceans. Through infection and lysis, viruses play critical roles in shaping marine microbial assemblages, with consequences for ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical processes. Despite their global-scale importance in oceanic processes, relatively little is currently known about the distribution, ecological roles and diversity of marine viruses. Furthermore, this existing knowledge is largely limited to temperate and lower latitude ecosystems, leaving the role of viruses in polar waters relatively unexplored. The Canadian Arctic Shelf (CAS) is a heterogeneous and productive marine ecosystem within the Arctic Ocean that plays a key role in carbon cycling. Emerging data suggest that the microbial assemblages on the CAS are active and diverse and can respond rapidly to changes in environmental conditions. This dissertation addresses a knowledge gap regarding marine viruses in polar waters by examining ecology and ...