Extremely halophilic brine community manipulation shows higher robustness of microbiomes inhabiting human-driven solar saltern than naturally driven lake

Abstract

Viruses greatly influence succession and diversification of their hosts, yet the effects of viral infection on the ecological dynamics of natural microbial populations remain poorly understood, especially at finer scales of diversity. By manipulating the viral predation pressure by autochthonous and allochthonous viruses, we uncovered potential phage–host interaction, and their important role in structuring the prokaryote community at an ecotype level.