Cai W, H Wang, Y Tian, F Chen and T Zheng.Applied and Environmental Microbiology,2011. 77(21): 7837-7840.

A lytic phage (øZCW1) was isolated from an algicidal bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain SP48 that specifically kills the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandriumtamarense. We demonstrated that øZCW1 could trigger the growth of A. tamarense by inhibiting the growth of algicidal bacterium SP48. In contrast, the growth of A. tamarense was suppressed when cocultured with either SP48 or the øZCW1-resistant mutant of SP48. This study provides the first evidence of the indirect impact of bacteriophage on bloom-forming microalgae via phage lysis of alga-killing bacteria.

FIG. 2 Population dynamics of harmful alga A.tamarensein different assemblages. A. amarense represents growing A. tamarense culture without any additions. A.tamarense SP48 represents coculture of A.tamarenseand bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain SP48. A.tamarense SP48 ZCW1 represents coculture of A. tamarense and bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. SP48 and bacteriophage ZCW1. A. tamarense SP48-M ZCW1 represents coculture of A.tamarenseand bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. SP48-M and bacteriophage ZCW1. Each experiment was carried out in triplicate. The error bars represent the standard deviations for the values at different time points.