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Microbial ecology

A marine virus as foe and friend

A virus has been found inserted into the genome of the most abundant bacteria in the oceans. Even though the virus can kill its host, the genes carried by the prophage may help these bacteria flourish around the world.

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Fig. 1: SAR11 viruses on the outside.

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Correspondence to David L. Kirchman.

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Kirchman, D.L. A marine virus as foe and friend. Nat Microbiol 5, 982–983 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-020-0764-3

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