Materials, Methods, and Experiments in the Study of Black Sea Algal Viruses

Major studies of the Black Sea algal viruses in Russia have been conducted at scientific institutes located in the city of Sevastopol. A review of the methodological approaches used during 2002–2019 shows that both classical virological methods and methods that were recently developed and patented (among them those by the authors) are applicable to the search for, isolation, and study of algal viruses. The study of samples of clinical material and material of aquatic organisms, as well as model experiments, including those using a unique laboratory apparatus and a test stand, revealed new data on the biology and ecology of marine viruses. Based on the results from these studies, it was proposed to use algal viruses monitoring as a component in aquatic environment monitoring, in which algal viruses are considered as biological indicators and/or markers.