Here a Virus, There a Virus, Everywhere the Same Virus?

Authors

Mya Breitbart, University of South FloridaFollow
Forest Rohwer, San Diego State University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2005

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2005.04.003

Abstract

There are an estimated 10³¹ viruses on Earth, most of which are phages that infect bacteria. Metagenomic analyses have shown that environmental viral communities are incredibly diverse. There are an estimated 5000 viral genotypes in 200 liters of seawater and possibly a million different viral genotypes in one kilogram of marine sediment. By contrast, some culturing and molecular studies have found that viruses move between different biomes. Together, these findings suggest that viral diversity could be high on a local scale but relatively limited globally. Also, by moving between environments, viruses can facilitate horizontal gene transfer.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

No

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Trends in Microbiology, v. 13, no. 6, p. 278-284

Scholar Commons Citation

Breitbart, Mya and Rohwer, Forest, "Here a Virus, There a Virus, Everywhere the Same Virus?" (2005). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 787.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/787