RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

E VO L U T I O N

Timeline of the ancient mariners

Changes in the composition of ancient planktonic communities can be studied by microscopic and chemical analyses of sediments and are usually explained by changes in environmental conditions. However, the viral populations that are associated with these communi ties, and their roles during these changes, are poorly understood. Writing in Science, Marco Coolen now provides a 7,000year record of the population dynamics of the photosynthetic haptophyte alga Emiliania huxleyi and its viruses in the BlackSea. The author PCR amplified and sequenced DNA fragments encoding parts of the major capsid protein (MCP) and phosphoglycerate mutase (PGM) of E. huxleyiinfecting coccolithoviruses from sediments of the western Black Sea that had been deposited between 7,500 and 450years ago. He found a total of 33 viral genotypes and studied their cooccurrence with 11 E.huxleyi genotypes that had been previously identified by sequencing DNA encoding mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) from the same sediment samples. DNA fragments were well preserved in the sedi ment record, as shown by a constant ratio between COI gene copy numbers and the concentration of E. huxleyispecific recalcitrant lipid bio markers. Most shifts in viral and host popula tions coincided with important environ mental changes that affected salinity and nutrient avail ability, as previously determined by geochemical and palynological studies. Whereas some host and viral genotypes seemed to show limited persistence, others coexisted for long periods of time. For example, the host geno type COI1 and the viral genotype MCP20 PGM2 coexisted for more than a century (495640years ago). Similar methods could be applied to other photosynthetic marine microorganisms such as cyano bacteria, which are infected by their own DNA viruses. Given the major role of phytoplankton in the global carbon cycle, an understanding of the importance of viruses in control ling past and present phytoplankton populations is greatly needed. Furthermore, these studies may be useful to paleoecologists and paleo climatologists for improving their interpretation of past climaterecords.
CesarSanchez

a 7,000year record of the population dynamics of Emiliania huxleyi and its viruses

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER Coolen, M. J. L. 7000years of Emiliania huxleyi viruses in the Black Sea. Science 333, 451452 (2011) FURTHER READING Suttle, C. A. Marine viruses major players in the global ecosystem. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 5, 801812 (2007)

NATURE REVIEWS | MICROBIOLOGY 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

VOLUME 9 | SEPTEMBER2011