The Emiliania huxleyi virus 86 (EhV-86) is a Coccolithovirus from the family Phycodnaviridae. EhV-86 infects marine coccolithophore alga Emiliania huxleyi, which is found in almost all ocean ecosystems from the equator to sub-polar regions. E. huxleyi forms massive blooms, which can cover over 100,000 square kilometers and are visible from space. The blooms affect not only the properties of the surface ocean water, but also the global climate. These algae blooms collapse usually after 5–8 days because of infections by coccolithoviruses, most often by EhV-86 [1]. This virus is unique among other Phycodnaviruses, because it is enveloped by a lipid membrane. Thanks to the outer membrane EhV-86 exploits an animal-like membrane-fusion infection strategy and its progeny virions leave the algal host cell by budding [2].
We cultivate Emiliania huxleyi in large volumes and infect it with EhV-86. We purified the EhV-86 particles from the lysed alga culture and are working toward structure determination of EhV-86 by cryo-electron microscopy. To characterize the life-cycle of EhV-86 inside the alga cell, we are preparing thin lamellas (under 300 nm thick) of virus-infected cells using focused ion beam milling. These lamellas will be investigated by cryo-electron tomography.