Phages across the biosphere: contrasts of viruses in soil and aquatic environments.
Despite the predominance of aquatic environments on the planet Earth, microbial abundance and diversity within soil environments exceed that of the aquatic realm. Most of what we know of viral ecology within natural systems has come through investigations of aquatic environments. However, the 'aquatic-bias' in viral ecology is beginning to change as the cultivation-independent approaches, which revealed the extraordinary abundance and diversity of viruses within aquatic systems, are now being applied to soils. This review briefly summarizes recent investigations of viral abundance and diversity in soil environments.
University of Delaware, Delaware Biotechnology Institute, 15 Innovation Way Newark, DE 19711, USA.
Sharath
S
Srinivasiah
Jaysheel
J
Bhavsar
Kanika
K
Thapar
Mark
M
Liles
Tom
T
Schoenfeld
K Eric
KE
Wommack
D001419:Bacteria / Q000821:virology*; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D044822:Biodiversity; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology*; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D014780:Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*