Bacteriophage (Viruses)

Viruses are an essential component of soil biodiversity and contribute to important ecosystem functions. In the past, soil viruses have been largely understudied due to methodological challenges of extracting viruses from the complex soil environment. This has gradually changed with the availability of recent metagenomic analysis. In this chapter, we revisit phage diversity and life strategies, introduce recent advances in utilizing metagenomic methods to characterize soil phages, and summarize the potential roles of soil phages in mediating biogeochemical element cycles and plant health by influencing their microbial hosts. Finally, we discuss the feedback responses of soil phages to global changes and highlight the importance of incorporating the roles of soil phages into global biogeochemical models.