Cave Pools in Carlsbad Caverns National Park Contain Diverse Bacteriophage Communities and Novel Viral Sequences.

ABSTRACT: Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth, and they play a critical role in the environment and biosphere where they regulate microbial populations and contribute to nutrient cycling. Environmental viruses have been the most studied in the ocean, but viral investigations have now spread to other environments. Here, viral communities were characterized in four cave pools in Carlsbad Caverns National Park to test the hypotheses that (i) viral abundance is ten-fold higher than prokaryotic cell abundance in cavern pools, (ii) cavern pools contain novel viral sequences, and (iii) viral communities in pools from developed portions of the cave are distinct from those of pools in undeveloped parts of the same cave. The relationship between viral and microbial abundance was determi

SUBMITTER: Ulbrich J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11671562 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature