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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2002, p. 1468-1472, Vol. 68, No. 3
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.3.1468-1472.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Higher Abundance of Bacteria than of Viruses in Deep Mediterranean Sediments

Roberto Danovaro,* Elena Manini, and Antonio Dell'Anno

Institute of Marine Sciences, Marine Biology Section, Faculty of Science, University of Ancona, 60131 Ancona, Italy

Received 5 July 2001/ Accepted 28 November 2001

The interactions between viral abundance and bacterial density, biomass, and production were investigated along a longitudinal transect consisting of nine deep-sea stations encompassing the entire Mediterranean basin. The numbers of viruses were very low (range, 3.6 x 107 to 12.0 x 107 viruses g-1) and decreased eastward. The virus-to-bacterium ratio was always < 1.0, indicating that the deep-sea sediments of the Mediterranean Sea are the first example of a marine ecosystem not numerically dominated by viruses. The lowest virus numbers were found where the lowest bacterial metabolism and turnover rates and the largest cell size were observed, suggesting that bacterial doubling time might play an important role in benthic virus development.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Marine Science, University of Ancona, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy. Phone: 39 71 220 4654. Fax: 39 71 220 4650. E-mail: danovaro{at}popcsi.unian.it.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2002, p. 1468-1472, Vol. 68, No. 3
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.3.1468-1472.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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