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SUMMARY:“Chemical Arms Race at Sea”: The role of virally-encoded auxil
 iary metabolic genes in shaping the marine environment - Assaf Vardi. Depa
 rtment of Plant and Environmental Sciences\, Weizmann Institute of Science
 \, Rehovot\, Israel
DTSTART:20150826T100000Z
DTEND:20150826T110000Z
UID:TALK60398@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:35496
DESCRIPTION:Marine viruses that infect marine microorganisms are recognize
 d as major ecological and evolutionary driving forces\, shaping community 
 structure and nutrient and energy cycling in the marine environment. Never
 theless\, the cellular mechanisms that govern these host-virus dynamics ar
 e largely unexplored. Emiliania huxleyi is a globally important coccolitho
 phore forming massive algal blooms in the North Atlantic Ocean that are ro
 utinely infected and terminated by large DNA viruses\, coccolithoviruses (
 EhVs). This unique host-pathogen interaction spans more than 12 orders of 
 magnitude\, from the individual cell (0.000001 m) to large algal blooms (c
 a. 1\,000\,000 m). We therefore aim to bridge this gap by investigating bo
 th the intricate cellular mechanism induced during host-virus interactions
  as well studying the mechanism of viral transmission over large scale of 
 algal blooms. \n\nWe explore the molecular basis for host-virus dynamics a
 nd the signal transduction pathways that mediate host resistance and susce
 ptibility to viral infection. Major efforts in our lab are focused on the 
 role of sphingolipid and ROS metabolism and their function in host PCD and
  autophagy during viral replication strategies. \n\nThe high prevalence of
  viral-encoded metabolic enzymes from aquatic systems strongly points to t
 heir central role in shaping the evolutionary “arms race” between mari
 ne microbes and their viruses\, and consequently\, the flow of carbon in m
 arine food webs.\n\n
LOCATION:Large Lecture Theatre\, Department of Plant Sciences
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