掀开土壤生物“暗物质”——土壤病毒的神秘面纱

Lift Mysterious Veil of Soil Virus:‘Dark Matter’ of Soil Biota

病毒是地球上数量最多的生命体,在调控寄主群落结构、促进元素生物地球化学循环和生物进化中起到重要的作用。病毒被喻为生物"暗物质"。近年来,海洋环境下病毒生态学研究进展迅速;与此相反,在陆地生态系统,特别是土壤环境中病毒研究进展缓慢。文章从生态学角度对目前有关土壤病毒丰度、形态多样性、基因多样性、研究方法和生态功能等进行简要的阐述,目的在于呼吁从事土壤微生物和土壤生态学研究的工作者重视对土壤病毒的研究工作,从而促进土壤病毒生态学科的发展。

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on the Earth, they play important roles in altering their host community structures driving global biogeochemical Recently, the researches on vi cy ra] cles, and promoting the biological evolution. Viruses are commonly regarded as ＇dark matter＇ of biota ecology are progressing rapidly in marine environments, while the corresponding studies in terrestria ecosystem especially in soil environments were largely lagged. In this paper, the recent research progress on soil virus, such as viral abundance, morphological and genetic diversity, research methodology, and ecological functions were briefly reviewed from the viewpoint of ecology. The purpose of this paper aims at calling for scientists who engaged in soil microorganism and soil ecology research to pay attention on the study of soil virus, and finally promote the development of soil viral ecology.