Haptophyte and algal virus (Phycodnaviridae and Mimiviridae) sequencing. marine metagenome

Viruses strongly influence the ecology and diversity of phytoplankton in the ocean. Haptophytes constitute an important part of the marine phytoplankton and several haptophyte species are infected by viruses in the Phycodnaviridae and Mimiviridae families. Diversity of haptophytes and Phycodnaviridae and Mimiviridae families were investigated using targeted amplicon metagenomic sequencing (454) of five samples representing different seasons in Raunefjorden, Norway. We used primers targeting the V4 region of haptophytes, 528long and PRYM01+7 on size-fractionated phytoplankton, and primers targeting the gene encoding major capsid protein in Phycodnaviridae and Mimiviridae.