Viral communities across a grassland area are not uniform, and understanding viral dynamics could lead to better insight into how bacteria in soil will react to drought and other climate changes, according to a new study out of 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis.
Viruses can affect microbes, the food web, the carbon cycle and other ecosystem processes, including controlling bacteria.
The research, published Nov. 2 in the , centered on examining viral responses in soil to differences in rainfall. Over three years, the team of scientists from 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Merced, 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Berkeley and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory monitored grassland plots, with one set of plots receiving 50 percent of the average rainfall.
They found that viral diversity and composition in soils varied, and viruses reacted rather quickly to low-water conditions regardless of location, said plant pathologist Joanne B. Emerson, assistant professor of plant pathology at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis and corresponding author on the paper.
鈥淲e already know that bacteria are really important,鈥 Emerson said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e just started to learn more about soil viruses, and viruses are key to controlling the bacteria.鈥
The findings could help better understand and predict soil dynamics.
The lead author on the paper is Christian Santos-Medell铆n, a postdoctoral researcher in the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Department of Plant Pathology. The work was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.
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