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Viruses — the New Players in the Game; Their Ecological Role and Could They Mediate Genetic Exchange by Transduction?

  • Conference paper
Molecular Ecology of Aquatic Microbes

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIG,volume 38))

Abstract

The abundance of virus like particles in marine ecosystems range from <104 ml-1 to >108 ml-1. Their distribution in time and space parallels that of other biological parameters such as bacterial abundance and chlorophyll. The abundance of viral particles changes on a seasonal and a diel basis, but the change in viral abundance may also be much faster, resembling synchronous “one-step” growth curves. Few studies have been carried out, but viruses appear, at least in some cases, to have a significant impact on carbon and nutrient flow in microbial food webs. Virus has also been demonstrated to exert a species-specific control of both bacteria and phytoplankton populations in natural waters. With model phage-host systems, it has been demonstrated that transduction can take place in aquatic environments. From what is known about transduction in culture systems we estimate that transduction potentially may occur at a significant rate in natural communities, but it is uncertain whether the potential is realized or not. Virus infection and lysogenization of bacteria are known to give some bacteria a competitive advantage and it is possible that similar mechanisms are important in natural waters.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Bergen, Jahnebakken 5, N-5020, Bergen, Norway

    Gunnar Bratbak & Mikal Heldal

Authors
  1. Gunnar Bratbak
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  2. Mikal Heldal
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Natural Environment Research Council, Prospect Place, The Hoe, PL1 3DH, Plymouth, UK

    Ian Joint

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© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bratbak, G., Heldal, M. (1995). Viruses — the New Players in the Game; Their Ecological Role and Could They Mediate Genetic Exchange by Transduction?. In: Joint, I. (eds) Molecular Ecology of Aquatic Microbes. NATO ASI Series, vol 38. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79923-5_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79923-5_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-79925-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-79923-5

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