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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2004, p. 5842-5846, Vol. 70, No. 10
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.10.5842-5846.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Movement of Viruses between Biomes

Emiko Sano,1 Suzanne Carlson,1 Linda Wegley,1 and Forest Rohwer1,2*

Department of Biology,1 Center for Microbial Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, California2

Received 9 March 2004/ Accepted 17 June 2004

Viruses are abundant in all known ecosystems. In the present study, we tested the possibility that viruses from one biome can successfully propagate in another. Viral concentrates were prepared from different near-shore marine sites, lake water, marine sediments, and soil. The concentrates were added to microcosms containing dissolved organic matter as a food source (after filtration to allow 100-kDa particles to pass through) and a 3% (vol/vol) microbial inoculum from a marine water sample (after filtration through a 0.45-µm-pore-size filter). Virus-like particle abundances were then monitored using direct counting. Viral populations from lake water, marine sediments, and soil were able to replicate when they were incubated with the marine microbes, showing that viruses can move between different ecosystems and propagate. These results imply that viruses can laterally transfer DNA between microbes in different biomes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Center for Microbial Sciences, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr., San Diego, CA 92182. Phone: (619) 594-7829. Fax: (619) 595-5676. E-mail: forest{at}sunstroke.sdsu.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2004, p. 5842-5846, Vol. 70, No. 10
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.10.5842-5846.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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