Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan.
City of Mombetsu, Mombetsu, Japan.
Commun Biol. 2024 Nov 19;7(1):1507. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07189-z.
The interactions between zooplankton and viruses, which have been overlooked despite their crucial roles in marine ecosystems, are investigated in the copepod Pseudocalanus newmani. Copepod transcriptome data reveal four novel RNA viruses and weekly zooplankton samplings detect all viruses with different prevalence peaks during low-abundance periods of P. newmani. In addition to water temperature and food quality, our results suggest that marine virus is one of the factors controlling copepod population dynamics. Gene expression analysis indicates possible increased viral replication and decreased copepod movement in P. newmani with the Picorna-like virus, which is closely related to phytoplankton viruses, and metabarcoding diet analysis detects diatoms as P. newmani's major prey. Viral-like particles are observed in the gut contents of copepods during the high prevalence of this virus, suggesting infected copepod prey may affect copepod physiology. These results show that investigating zooplankton-virus interactions can provide a better understanding of marine ecosystems.
对海洋生态系统中起着关键作用但却被忽视的浮游动物与病毒之间的相互作用，在新糠虾（Pseudocalanus newmani）中进行了研究。桡足类转录组数据揭示了四种新型 RNA 病毒，每周的浮游动物采样在新糠虾数量较少的时期检测到所有病毒，且具有不同的流行高峰。除了水温和食物质量外，我们的研究结果表明，海洋病毒是控制桡足类种群动态的因素之一。基因表达分析表明，带有与浮游植物病毒密切相关的类微小 RNA 病毒的新糠虾体内可能会出现病毒复制增加和桡足类运动减少的情况，而通过 metabarcoding 饮食分析检测到硅藻是新糠虾的主要猎物。在这种病毒高流行期间，在桡足类的肠道内容物中观察到了类似病毒的颗粒，这表明感染的桡足类猎物可能会影响桡足类的生理机能。这些结果表明，研究浮游动物-病毒相互作用可以更好地了解海洋生态系统。
