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Fraction of prokaryotes in oceanic surface waters killed daily by viruses

Range	20 to 40 %
Organism	Biosphere
Reference	Suttle CA. Marine viruses-major players in the global ecosystem. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2007 Oct5(10):801-12. p. 803 right column, 2nd paragraphPubMed ID17853907
Primary Source	Suttle, C. A. The significance of viruses to mortality in aquatic microbial communities. Microb. Ecol. 28, 237–243 (1994). DOI: 10.1007/BF00166813
Comments	Poorly constrained estimates indicate that, on average, viral lysis in surface waters removes 20–40% of the standing stock of prokaryotes each day (primary source), and is approximately equal in importance to grazing as a source of microbial mortality (Fuhrman, J. A. & Noble, R. T. Viruses and protists cause similar bacterial mortality in coastal seawater. Limnol. Oceanogr. 40, 1236–1242 (1996).) See BNID 105604
Entered by	Uri M
ID	106625