Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/D007372/1
Isolation and characterisation of freshwater picocyanophage
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr JD Parry, Lancaster University, Biological Sciences
- Grant held at:
- Lancaster University, Biological Sciences
- Science Area:
- Freshwater
- Overall Classification:
- Freshwater
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Environmental Microbiology
- Abstract:
- Freshwater lakes are both aesthetically pleasing and are increasingly used for recreation purposes. The only time when such systems are unavailable to the general public is when they develop a 'pea-green soup' appearance, due to the presence of toxic cyanobacterial mats. These organisms are photosynthetic bacteria which come in many shapes, forms and degrees of toxicity. The ones we are concerned with are those which are non-toxic, but they perform an essential role in freshwater systems, as primary producers, i.e. they convert inorganic carbon (CO2) into organic carbon which is utilised by the rest of the food web. Organic carbon can be excreted by these cyanobacteria as simple sugars, i.e. dissolved organic carbon (DOC) which is utilised by organisms such as bacteria, but they also produce particulate organic carbon (POC), as cellular biomass, which is only available to organisms that predate upon them. To date, the major predators of cyanobacteria have thought to have been the single-celled protozoa, e.g. amoebae, but research in our laboratory has shown that although these protozoa efficiently ingest the cyanobacteria they are not digested and are excreted in a viable form. So the POC within the cyanobacteria are not being transferred along the foodweb, unless something else predates on these photosynthetic organisms. Attention has now turned to the potential role of viruses as the predators of these cyanobacteria, the only trouble is, no viruses have ever been isolated which infect them. Many workers have tried to isolate such viruses, but their attempts have been unsuccessful, but we have recently been successful. However, a painstaking programme of purifying and characterising the viruses must now take place, to provide details (for the first time worldwide) on the most likely predators of these cyanobacteria in situ.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/D007372/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Small Grants (FEC)
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Small Grants
This grant award has a total value of £34,597
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DI - Staff | DA - Estate Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £3,897 | £4,029 | £8,332 | £16,949 | £1,390 |
If you need further help, please read the user guide.