School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Nebraska Center for Virology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
J Virol. 2023 May 31;97(5):e0027523. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00275-23. Epub 2023 May 1.
Viruses can have large effects on the ecological communities in which they occur. Much of this impact comes from the mortality of host cells, which simultaneously alters microbial community composition and causes the release of matter that can be used by other organisms. However, recent studies indicate that viruses may be even more deeply integrated into the functioning of ecological communities than their effect on nutrient cycling suggests. In particular, chloroviruses, which infect chlorella-like green algae that typically occur as endosymbionts, participate in three types of interactions with other species. Chlororviruses (i) can lure ciliates from a distance, using them as a vector; (ii) depend on predators for access to their hosts; and (iii) get consumed as a food source by, at least, a variety of protists. Therefore, chloroviruses both depend on and influence the spatial structures of communities as well as the flows of energy through those communities, driven by predator-prey interactions. The emergence of these interactions are an eco-evolutionary puzzle, given the interdependence of these species and the many costs and benefits that these interactions generate.
病毒会对其所在的生态群落产生巨大影响。其影响大多来自宿主细胞的死亡，这同时改变了微生物群落的组成，并导致其他生物可以利用的物质释放。然而，最近的研究表明，病毒可能比其对营养循环的影响更深地融入生态群落的功能中。特别是感染类似绿藻的叶绿素病毒，通常作为内共生体存在，与其他物种有三种相互作用方式。叶绿素病毒 (i) 可以远距离引诱纤毛虫，利用它们作为载体；(ii) 依赖捕食者才能接触到它们的宿主；(iii) 至少被多种原生动物作为食物来源而被消耗。因此，叶绿素病毒依赖于和影响群落的空间结构以及群落中的能量流动，这些都受到捕食者-猎物相互作用的驱动。鉴于这些物种的相互依存性以及这些相互作用产生的许多成本和收益，这些相互作用的出现是一个生态进化谜题。
