Diel cycling and long-term persistence of viruses in the ocean's euphotic zone.

ABSTRACT: Viruses are fundamental components of marine microbial communities that significantly influence oceanic productivity, biogeochemistry, and ecosystem processes. Despite their importance, the temporal activities and dynamics of viral assemblages in natural settings remain largely unexplored. Here we report the transcriptional activities and variability of dominant dsDNA viruses in the open ocean's euphotic zone over daily and seasonal timescales. While dsDNA viruses exhibited some fluctuation in abundance in both cellular and viral size fractions, the viral assemblage was remarkably stable, with the most abundant viral types persisting over many days. More extended time series indicated that long-term persistence (>1 y) was the rule for most dsDNA viruses observed, suggesting that both core

SUBMITTER: Aylward FO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5663388 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature