Concentration of phages

Range per liter of surface seawater ~10^10: per g of sediment or topsoil 10^7 to 10^9 phages
Organism Biosphere
Reference Rohwer F, Edwards R. The Phage Proteomic Tree: a genome-based taxonomy for phage. J Bacteriol. 2002 Aug184(16):4529-35. p.4529 left column top paragraphPubMed ID12142423
Primary Source [6] Bergh, Ø., K. Y. Børsheim, G. Bratbak, and M. Heldal. 1989. High abundance of viruses found in aquatic environments. Nature 340: 467-468. [16] Danovaro, R., A. Dell'Anno, A. Trucco, M. Serresi, and S. Vanucci. 2001. Determination of virus abundance in marine sediments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 1384-1387. [17] Danovaro, R., and M. Serresi. 2000. Viral density and virus-to-bacterium ratio in deep-sea sediments of the Eastern Mediterranean. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 1857-1861. [32] Hewson, I., J. M. O'Neil, J. A. Fuhrman, and W. C. Dennison. 2001. Virus-like particle distribution and abundance in sediments and overlying waters along eutrophication gradients in two subtropical estuaries. Limnol. Oceanogr. 46: 1734-1746.PubMed ID2755508, 11229937, 10788350
Comments P.4529 left column top paragraph: "Phage, viruses that infect prokaryotes, were first described in the early 1900s (refs 19, 63). Studies of phage model systems revolutionized biology and established the field of molecular biology (ref 12). Only recently have the enormous influences of phage on ecosystems been realized (refs 26, 67). Phage are extremely common in the environment: there are ∼10^10 phage per liter of surface seawater (primary source 6) and 10^7 to 10^9 per g of sediment or topsoil (primary sources 16, 17, 32 David Lipson, unpublished data). In the ocean, phage are major predators of bacteria and significant sinks of essential nutrients (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus) (ref 65)."
Entered by Uri M
ID 112573