| Range |
~1E+24 productive infections/sec
|
| Organism |
Biosphere |
| Reference |
Krupovic M, Prangishvili D, Hendrix RW, Bamford DH. Genomics of bacterial and archaeal viruses: dynamics within the prokaryotic virosphere. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 2011 Dec75(4):610-35. doi: 10.1128/MMBR.00011-11 p.611 left columnPubMed ID22126996
|
| Primary Source |
[108] Hendrix RW. Bacteriophages: evolution of the majority. Theor Popul Biol. 2002 Jun61(4):471-80 [267] Suttle CA. Marine viruses-major players in the global ecosystem. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2007 Oct5(10):801-12 DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1750PubMed ID12167366, 17853907
|
| Comments |
P.611 left column: "A current estimate based on these measurements is that there are ∼10^31 individual tailed phage virions in the global biosphere—enough to reach for 200 million light years if laid end to end—and measurements of population turnover suggest that it takes roughly 10^24 productive infections per second to maintain the global population (primary sources)." Primary source [267] abstract: "Every second, approximately 10^23 viral infections occur in the ocean. These infections are a major source of mortality, and cause disease in a range of organisms, from shrimp to whales. As a result, viruses influence the composition of marine communities and are a major force behind biogeochemical cycles." |
| Entered by |
Uri M |
| ID |
116995 |