New paper out: Top-heavy trophic structure within benthic viral dark matter

Another new take on viral ecology of cyanobacterial mats, led by former student and postdoc Ethan Cissell, is out in Environmental Microbiology. Using deep longitudinal multi-omic sequencing, we characterized the viral assemblage (ssDNA, dsDNA, and dsRNA viruses) of coral reef cyanobacterial mats from Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands. We found that this viral community (vMAT) is highly unique and endemic to benthic cyanobacterial mats, sharing fewer community members than epected with either the global ocean virome or soil permafrost datasets. We also document high virus-host abundance (virus-to-microbe) in abundance and activity, revealing strong trophic control within cyanobactieral mat microbial communities.

Cissell, EC and SJ McCoy (2023). Top-heavy trophic structure within benthic viral dark matter. Environmental Microbiology, in press. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16457