Viral shunt in tropical oligotrophic ocean
Journal
Science advances
Journal Volume
8
Journal Issue
41
Pages
eabo2829
Date Issued
2022-10-12
Author(s)
Abstract
Viruses cause massive bacterial mortality and thus modulate bacteria-governed carbon transfer and nutrient recycling at global scale. The viral shunt hypothesis states the crucial role of viral lysis in retaining microbial carbon into food web processes, while its applicability to nature has not been well identified for over two decades. Here, we conducted nine diel surveys in the tropical South China Sea and suggested that the time scale adopted in sampling and system trophic status determine the "visibility" of the viral shunt in the field. Specifically, viral abundance (VA), bacterial biomass (BB), and bacterial specific growth rate (SGR) varied synchronously and presented the significant VA-BB and VA-SGR linkages at an hourly scale, which reveals direct interactions between viruses and their hosts. The differential responses of the viral shunt to temperature, i.e., looser VA-SGR coupling in warm and tighter VA-SGR coupling in cold environments, imply an altered carbon cycling in tropical oceans under climatic warming.
Subjects
BACTERIAL PRODUCTION
MARINE VIRUSES
CHINA SEA
CARBON
GROWTH
BACTERIOPLANKTON
MICROBES
NITROGEN
ROLES
WAVES
SDGs
Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
Description
Article number eabo2829
Type
journal article