Virus Succession Observed during an Emiliania huxleyi Bloom

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:p> Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used as a molecular tool to determine the diversity and to monitor population dynamics of viruses that infect the globally important coccolithophorid <jats:italic>Emiliania huxleyi</jats:italic> . We exploited variations in the major capsid protein gene from <jats:italic>E. huxleyi</jats:italic> -specific viruses to monitor their genetic diversity during an <jats:italic>E. huxleyi</jats:italic> bloom in a mesocosm experiment off western Norway. We reveal that, despite the presence of several virus genotypes at the start of an <jats:italic>E. huxleyi</jats:italic> bloom, only a few virus genotypes eventually go on to kill the bloom. </jats:p>