Aquatic viruses: the greatest reservoir of genetic diversity and drivers of global processes

病毒的丰度为每毫升1至1亿，是迄今为止水生系统中数量最多的“生命形式”;如果首尾相连，海洋中的病毒将延伸到最近的60个星系之外。它们是造成死亡的主要因素，每天在世界海洋中杀死大约20%的生物。因此，它们是地球化学循环的重要驱动力，在构建生态群落中发挥着重要作用。除了其生态和地球化学的重要性，病毒是迄今为止最大的水库未知的遗传多样性在水生系统。该提案中概述的研究重点是了解和量化病毒对海洋生态系统的影响，并描述其巨大的遗传和生物多样性。具体来说，我们将描述不寻常的病毒分离株，研究遗传多样性和最近发现的一些病毒群的分布，确定浮游动物种群中病毒的发生，并确定病毒在氮循环中的重要性。总的来说，这项研究将使我们对水生病毒、其遗传多样性和在营养循环中的作用的理解取得重大进展。

At abundances of 1 to 100 million per mL, viruses are by far the most numerous "lifeforms" in aquatic systems; if placed end-to-end, viruses in the sea would stretch farther than the nearest 60 galaxies. They are major agents of mortality and are responsible for killing about 20% of the living material, by weight, each day in the world's oceans. Consequently, they are important drivers of biogeochemical cycling and play an important role in structuring planktonic communities. In addition to their ecological and geochemical importance, viruses are by far the largest reservoir of unknown genetic diversity in aquatic systems. The research outlined in this proposal is focused on understanding and quantifying the impact of viruses on marine planktonic systems, and characterizing their enormous genetic and biological diversity. Specifically, we will characterize unusual virus isolates, examine the genetic diversity and distribution of a number of recently discovered virus groups, determine the occurrence of viruses in zooplankton populations and determine the importance of viruses in the recycling of nitrogen. Collectively, this research will lead to major advances in our understanding of aquatic viruses, their genetic diversity and role in nutrient recycling.