Marine Virus Ecology

The field of marine virus ecology is less than 10 years old. The first reports that the marine food web included an abundant and active assemblage of native viruses (viroplankton) initiated numerous studies on the distribution and abundances of viruses, the production and fate of viruses and the role of viruses as predators in the plankton. Some evidence is now emerging for the presence of nonlethal viruses in the plankton. Most of our recent knowledge about marine viruses has been in relation to the marine bacterioplankton and the impact of viruses on the fate of the ‘microbial loop’. Yet marine viroplankton are composed of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses and can infect many types of organisms in the ocean. Furthermore, the role of viruses even within the microbial members of the planktonic community includes more than mortality effects alone.