Transcriptional responses of the marine green alga Micromonas pusilla and an infecting prasinovirus under different phosphate conditions

Prasinophytes are widespread marine algae for which responses to nutrient limitation and viral infection are not well understood. We studied the picoprasinophyte, Micromonas pusilla, grown under phosphate-replete (0.65+/-0.07 d(-1) ) and 10-fold lower (low)-phosphate (0.11+/-0.04 d(-1) ) conditions, and infected by the phycodnavirus MpV-SP1. Expression of 17% of Micromonas genes in uninfected cells differed by >1.5-fold (q<0.01) between nutrient conditions, with genes for P-metabolism and the uniquely-enriched Sel1-like repeat (SLR) family having higher relative transcript abundances, while phospholipid-synthesis genes were lower in low-P than P-replete. Approximately 70% (P-replete) and 30% (low-P) of cells were lysed 24h post-infection, and View Publication