2022/12/27 by John P. DeLong, James L. Van Etten, Zeina Al-Ameeli +2 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Abundance (ecology) #Bacteriophages and microbial interactions #Biology #Ciliate #Ecology #Ecosystem #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Food chain #Foraging #Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology #Plankton #Trophic level #Virology #Virus
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.2215000120
openalex publication_date 2022/12/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/09
Viruses impact host cells and have indirect effects on ecosystem processes. Plankton such as ciliates can reduce the abundance of virions in water, but whether virus consumption translates into demographic consequences for the grazers is unknown. Here, we show that small protists not only can consume viruses they also can grow and divide given only viruses to eat. Moreover, the ciliate Halteria sp. foraging on chloroviruses displays dynamics and interaction parameters that are similar to other microbial trophic interactions. These results suggest that the effect of viruses on ecosystems extends beyond (and in contrast to) the viral shunt by redirecting energy up food chains.