Open AccessInfectivity of algal viruses studied by chlorophyll fluorescence
Author(s) -
Jan Rohozinski,
Popat N. Patil,
G. G. R. Seaton
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of general virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1465-2099
pISSN - 0022-1317
DOI - 10.1099/0022-1317-76-11-2859
Subject(s) - infectivity , biology , bacteriophage , virus , virology , cytoplasm , cell , host (biology) , microbiology and biotechnology , ecology , genetics , escherichia coli , gene
Algal virus infection proceeds via the specific recognition of the host cell wall, penetration of the cell wall and transfer of genetic material into the cytoplasm of the host cell. This process is similar to that which occurs when bacteriophage infect bacteria so that techniques and concepts developed to study bacteriophage are applicable to algal virus studies. By measuring virus-induced changes in chlorophyll fluorescence we have redefined classical studies on the distribution of infectivity. We show that infectivity does not follow a Poisson distribution with a fixed mean, n. By analysing the infectivity of algal viruses over a broad range of virus:cell ratios we have obtained a corrected Poisson distribution that reflects the probability of multiple virus particles attached per cell and is equally applicable to algal viruses and bacteriophage.