projects
programmed cell death
virus isolation
virus characterisation
invasive species
cryopreservation
Viruses are abundant in the world’s oceans, existing through parasitic relationships with their various hosts. Viruses are now known to infect representatives of every major algal phylum causing cellular lysis upon the completion of each virus life cycle. Thus, the life cycles of algal viruses alter phytoplankton clonal diversity and population density and therefore phytoplankton community succession, primary productivity, and ultimately influence nutrient cycling in the oceans. It is therefore the impacts viruses have on their hosts and the cascading effects on ecological processes that make viruses of great interest to oceanographers. In essence, how viruses are produced largely explains how other organisms die.
My research program generally addresses the role of viruses in aquatic ecosystems. I am particularly interested in:
- Isolating and characterizing novel algal viruses.
- Examining the role of viruses in the density, diversity and distribution of phytoplankton populations and communities.
- Examining the process of algal death.
- Examining the factors that determine the susceptibility of algal hosts to viral infections.
- Examining the role of ship’s ballast water in the introduction of viruses to Canadian coastal waters.