Microbial cross-domain interactions in marine systems

The Earth’s oceans are a treasure trove of microbial life, with unique communities adapted to marine ecosystems such as the euphotic zone, hydrothermal vents, or nutrient-poor open ocean waters. Microbial interactions in the oceans occur at various levels, often between members of different domains of life: Bacteriophages infect prokaryotes; invertebrates and unicellular eukaryotes graze on bacteria; parasitic protists or marine fungi infect eukaryotes; unicellular algae rely on vitamins and metal binding ligands produced by bacteria; and multicellular eukaryotes harbour microbiomes. Novel methods such as spatial ‘omics approaches or advanced sampling techniques enable more holistic approaches to tackle questions related to the cross-domain interactions occurring in marine systems.

This Collection invites submissions of articles that will advance the understanding of one or more of the following themes:

• Interactions between members of different domains of life; for example, virus–prokaryotes or eukaryote–bacteria.
• Biochemical characterizations of the nature of these interactions.
• Advanced (meta)omics approaches to unravel the complicated nature of the interactions.
• Ecological and biogeochemical impacts of these interactions.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3, SDG 6, SDG 13 and SDG 14.