Affiliation:
1. Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
Abstract
Recent reports documenting very high viral abundances in seawater have led to increased interest in the role of viruses in aquatic environments and a resurgence of the hypothesis that viruses are significant agents of bacterial mortality.
Synechococcus
spp., small unicellular cyanobacteria that are important primary producers at the base of the marine food web, were used to assess this hypothesis. We isolated a diverse group of
Synechococcus
phages that at times reach titers of between 10
3
and 10
4
cyanophages per ml in both inshore and offshore waters. However, despite their diversity and abundance, we present evidence in support of the hypothesis that lytic phages have a negligible effect in regulating the densities of marine
Synechococcus
populations. Our results indicate that these bacterial communities are dominated by cells resistant to their co-occurring phages and that these viruses are maintained by scavenging on the relatively rare sensitive cells in these communities.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
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