How do cyanobacteria coexist with virus that infect them? - Thomas Sharpton

Prochlorococcus has syntenic regions (core) and variable regions - Thomas Sharpton

T7-like Podoviruses are lytic dsDNA viruses that infect Prochloro - Thomas Sharpton

Isolated resistant strains and characterized mutations and phenotypes - Thomas Sharpton

Found mutations in 24 genes, most are cell-surface related - Thomas Sharpton

viruses had impaired ability to invade the cells - Thomas Sharpton

// evidence of co-evolution? - Ruchira S. Datta

all mutations were non-synonymous in predicted coding frames; indels leading to frameshifts. often, multiple different types of mutations in genes. most were non-core genes (83%) - Thomas Sharpton

@Ruchira - I'm waiting for it, but nothing so far - Thomas Sharpton

Mutations clustered in genomic islands. - Thomas Sharpton

Suggests selection against cells carrying attachment genes, selective force enhancing diversity in gene content - Thomas Sharpton

mutant genes are rare in the environment. however, sequence diversity is higher when present when compared to core background - Thomas Sharpton

Identify populations with diverse cell-surface genes. many subpopulations with different susceptibility regions. - Thomas Sharpton

Why aren't all cells resistant? These mutations are associated with a growth rate cost. Also, greater susceptibility to other phages. Avrani et al 2011 Nature 474: 604-608 - Thomas Sharpton

Can the slower growers maintain a decent population size in the natural environment? - Thomas Sharpton

I missed something or she lost me. - Thomas Sharpton

Anyhow, summary: Viruses drive diversification of genomes through selection for resistant strains. fitness cost to resistance. Complex dynamic network of interactions. - Thomas Sharpton