A new study led by researchers at the University of South Florida shines light on the environmental drivers of red tide blooms.
A new study led by researchers at the University of South Florida shines light on the environmental drivers of red tide blooms.
Published in the American Society for Microbiology’s journal mSphere, the study is among the first to identify viruses associated with Karenia brevis, the single-celled organism that causes red tide. By testing water samples collected along the offshore of southwest Florida, the researchers found several viruses — including one new viral species — present in K. brevis blooms.
Identifying viruses associated with red tide can help researchers better understand environmental factors that can cause blooms to increase and decrease. The study marks an initial step toward exploring how viruses could control red tide.
“We know that viruses play an important role in the dynamics of harmful algal blooms, but we haven’t known which viruses might be associated with Karenia brevis blooms,” said Jean Lim, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the USF College of Marine Science (CMS). “Now that we’ve identified several viruses in these blooms, we can work to determine which viruses might have an influence on these events.”
Read more at University of South Florida
Image: Karenia brevis, the single-celled organism that causes red tide. (Credit: Mya Breitbart -- USF)
