title: Attenuation of virus production at high multiplicities of infection in Aureococcus anophagefferens.
abstract: Infection dynamics (saturation kinetics, infection efficiency, adsorption and burst size) for the Aureococcus anophagefferens-Brown Tide virus (AaV) system were investigated using susceptible and resistant strains. Adsorption assays revealed that virus affinity to the cell surface is a key determinant of infectivity. Saturation of infection occurred at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 8 viruses per host and resulted in ~90-95% of infected cells, with burst sizes ranging from 164 to 191. Insight from the AaV genome implicates recycling of host nucleotides rather than de novo synthesis as a constraint on viral replication. Viral yields and mean burst sizes were significantly diminished with increasing MOI. This phenomenon, which was reminiscent of phage-induced 'lysis from without', appeared to be caused by viral contact and was unrelated to bacteria, signaling/toxic compounds, or defective interfering viruses. We posit that high-MOI effects attenuate viral proliferation in natural systems providing a negative feedback on virus-induced bloom collapse.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. Electronic address: bidle@marine.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Kay D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Bidle
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000378:metabolism; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000096:biosynthesis; D017862:Phycodnaviridae / Q000502:physiology*; D058009:Stramenopiles / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D009711:Nucleotides; D002734:Chlorophyll
keywords: Adsorption; Bloom; Burst size; Infection; MOI; Nucleotide; Phytoplankton; Virus