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The consumption of viruses returns energy to food chains - PubMed

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The consumption of viruses returns energy to food chains

John P DeLong et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023.

Abstract

Viruses impact host cells and have indirect effects on ecosystem processes. Plankton such as ciliates can reduce the abundance of virions in water, but whether virus consumption translates into demographic consequences for the grazers is unknown. Here, we show that small protists not only can consume viruses they also can grow and divide given only viruses to eat. Moreover, the ciliate Halteria sp. foraging on chloroviruses displays dynamics and interaction parameters that are similar to other microbial trophic interactions. These results suggest that the effect of viruses on ecosystems extends beyond (and in contrast to) the viral shunt by redirecting energy up food chains.

Keywords: microbial loop; viral shunt; virovory.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.

Halteria (A) and Paramecium bursaria (B) reduced plaque-forming unit density by twofold to two orders of magnitude in 2 d. Supplemental feeding of chloroviruses to the ciliate Halteria led to pronounced growth (C, black lines); in control dishes without virus, Halteria cell abundance was steady (C, blue lines). Paramecium (D) showed no cell growth in response to feeding with viruses. Light solid lines are individual replicates; thick lines are averages. Fluorescent micrographs of ciliates fed chloroviruses show Halteria with visible light (E) and with fluorescently labeled virus given as food (F). Two other ciliates, Euplotes sp. (G) and Paramecium caudatum(H), also show the indication of virus uptake. Aggregations of viruses are visible in the inside of vacuoles.

Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.

Predator–prey dynamics of Halteria foraging on chloroviruses. Halteria grew in abundance (A) as it decreased the abundance of chloroviruses (B). Individual colored lines are separate bootstrapped model fits.

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