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Volume 454 Issue 7208, 28 August 2008

Deep-sea sediments contain large reservoirs of carbon in the form of microbial biomass, and the dynamics of this ecosystem are only now being established. A paper in last week's Nature showed that Archaea predominate over Bacteria in an extensive sediment prokaryote community. This week Danovaro et al. report on the impact of viral infections in this ecosystem. Data from 232 sediment samples show that virus production is very high. Viral infections cause the abatement of over 80% of prokaryotic biomass production close to 100% at depths below 1,000 metres - thereby releasing huge amounts of dissolved organic carbon into the deep seas. In waters otherwise short of resources this injection of nutrients is particularly significant. Viruses therefore appear to play a major role in global biogeochemical cycles, deep-sea metabolism and overall functioning of the largest ecosystem of our biosphere. The cover graphic illustrates the battle between deep-sea viruses and bacteria, where bacteria destroyed by viruses provide food for other bacteria. [Article p. 1084; News 1038] Cover art: Mirco Tangherlini/ www.tangherlini.it

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