Nature 340, 467 - 468 (10 August 1989); doi:10.1038/340467a0

High abundance of viruses found in aquatic environments

Øivind Bergh, Knut Yngve BØrsheim^*, Gunnar Bratbak^† & Mikal Heldal

Department of Microbiology and Plant Physiology, University of Bergen, Jahnebakken 5, N-5007 Bergen, Norway ^* Present address: The Biological Station, University of Trondheim, Bynesveien 46, N-7018 Trondheim, Norway. ^† To whom correspondence should be addressed.

THE concentration of bacteriophages in natural unpolluted waters is in general believed to be low^1,2, and they have therefore been considered ecologically unimportant³. Using a new method for quantitative enumeration, we have found up to 2.5 x IO⁸ virus particles per millilitre in natural waters. These concentrations indicate that virus infection may be an important factor in the ecological control of planktonic micro-organisms, and that viruses might mediate genetic exchange among bacteria in natural aquatic environments.

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