2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

5/21/2019 | 3:00 PM - 3:15 PM | WIDESPREAD CRYPTIC VIRAL INFECTIONS IN BENTHIC BIOFILM COMMUNITIES | 150 G

WIDESPREAD CRYPTIC VIRAL INFECTIONS IN BENTHIC BIOFILM COMMUNITIES

As the most ubiquitous biological entities on earth, viruses have important impacts on aquatic microbial ecology and have been studied at length in the global ocean. However, the role of bacteriophage in lotic ecosystems, particularly in benthic biofilms, has gone largely unstudied. We hypothesized that temperate bacteriophage can circumvent the protective cuticle covering most biofilms through integration into bacterial genomes. Furthermore, prophage induction may play an important role in the biofilm lifecycle. To investigate the potential importance of lysogeny in benthic biofilms, prophage induction experiments were carried out on samples of both naturally occurring and laboratory grown freshwater benthic biofilms. Both field and laboratory experiments revealed evidence of prophage induction in nearly all samples. Our results suggest that bacteriophage can infect freshwater biofilms through lysogenic infection, with important implications for stream ecology.

Bacteria
Waterborne Pathogens
Bioassessment

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Presenters/Authors

Alexandra Payne (), College of William and Mary, atpayne@email.wm.edu;