Marine viruses: Pieces of life essential for the functioning of the planet

Authors

  • Dolors Vaqué Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC)
  • Ana Sotomayor-Garcia Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC)
  • Yaiza M. Castillo Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC)

Keywords:

viruses, microorganisms, lysis, lysogeny, condensation nuclei.

Abstract

Marine viruses are the most abundant biological entities in the sea. We find 10 million in 1 ml and 1030 in the entire ocean. They infect all living beings, from whales to prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea). Since prokaryotes are very abundant (1 million per ml), they are the viruses’ favourite hosts. The largest proportion of viruses in the sea are double-stranded DNA bacteriophages, although RNA viruses are also found. In marine systems, viruses play a key role in the food web. When they lyse their hosts, they cause the cellular content rich in dissolved organic matter and recycled inorganic nutrients to enter the water column, where it is used by other bacteria and/or by photosynthetic microorganisms for their growth. Consequently, viruses control the abundance and diversity of the microbial communities and play a key role in the biogeochemical cycles in the ocean. But not all viruses are lytic: some integrate themselves into their host’s genome and become prophages or temperate viruses. The carrier cell of the prophage or temperate virus is a lysogen and the prophage can be transmitted to further generations, causing changes in its genome. Environmental changes or cellular stress could revert the lysogenic cycle to the lytic cycle, releasing new viral progeny with the cellular content of the host. The different types of infection (lytic and lysogenic) make marine viruses the largest reservoir of genetic diversity, either stealing genes and/or transferring them to their hosts. Lastly, viruses also could play an important role in the regulation of the climate, contributing to the production of condensation nuclei that act as seeds for the formation of clouds, considered cooling elements of our planet.

Keywords: viruses, microorganisms, lysis, lysogeny, condensation nuclei.

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Author Biography

Ana Sotomayor-Garcia, Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC)

Dolors Vaqué, Ana Sotomayor-Garcia i Yaiza M. Castillo

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Issue

Vol. 70 (2020)

Section

Destacats de recerca

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