（本期Nature封面圖片所示為深海病毒和細(xì)菌之間的爭(zhēng)斗,，在這一爭(zhēng)斗中，被病毒破壞的細(xì)菌為其他細(xì)菌提供食物）
深海沉積物含有大量以微生物質(zhì)形式存在的碳,，這一生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的動(dòng)態(tài)只是到現(xiàn)在才正在被確定。上期Nature上的一篇論文指出,，在一個(gè)大面積的沉積物真核生物群落中,，古細(xì)菌相對(duì)于細(xì)菌來(lái)說(shuō)居支配地位,。在本期Nature上，Danovaro等人報(bào)告了病毒感染在這一生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中的影響,。
來(lái)自232個(gè)沉積樣品的數(shù)據(jù)表明,，病毒的產(chǎn)量是非常高的。病毒感染能使真核生物質(zhì)產(chǎn)量減少80%以上（在1000米深度之下接近100%）,，從而將大量溶解的有機(jī)碳釋放進(jìn)深海中,。在因其他原因缺乏資源的水域，營(yíng)養(yǎng)物的這種注入尤為重要,。因此,，病毒在全球生物地球化學(xué)循環(huán)、深海代謝和我們生物圈最大生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的總體功能方面似乎扮演一個(gè)重要角色,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
相關(guān)報(bào)道：Nature：海底沉積物生物圈中古細(xì)菌占支配地位
古細(xì)菌（生物知道）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Nature 454, 1084-1087 (28 August 2008) | doi:10.1038/nature07268
Major viral impact on the functioning of benthic deep-sea ecosystems
Roberto Danovaro1, Antonio Dell'Anno1, Cinzia Corinaldesi1, Mirko Magagnini1, Rachel Noble2, Christian Tamburini3 & Markus Weinbauer4
Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Institute of Marine Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, North Carolina 28557, USA
Université de la Méditerranée, Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille, UMR 6117–CNRS, Campus de Luminy, Case 901, 163 Avenue de Luminy, 13288 Marseille, Cedex 9, France
CNRS; Microbial Ecology & Biogeochemistry Group, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, 06234 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, 06234 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France
Viruses are the most abundant biological organisms of the world's oceans. Viral infections are a substantial source of mortality in a range of organisms—including autotrophic and heterotrophic plankton—but their impact on the deep ocean and benthic biosphere is completely unknown. Here we report that viral production in deep-sea benthic ecosystems worldwide is extremely high, and that viral infections are responsible for the abatement of 80% of prokaryotic heterotrophic production. Virus-induced prokaryotic mortality increases with increasing water depth, and beneath a depth of 1,000 m nearly all of the prokaryotic heterotrophic production is transformed into organic detritus. The viral shunt, releasing on a global scale 0.37–0.63 gigatonnes of carbon per year, is an essential source of labile organic detritus in the deep-sea ecosystems. This process sustains a high prokaryotic biomass and provides an important contribution to prokaryotic metabolism, allowing the system to cope with the severe organic resource limitation of deep-sea ecosystems. Our results indicate that viruses have an important role in global biogeochemical cycles, in deep-sea metabolism and the overall functioning of the largest ecosystem of our biosphere.
