Effect of forest soil viruses on bacterial community succession and the implication for soil carbon sequestration.

Although the ecological importance of soil viruses is increasingly recognized, how soil viruses regulate the diversity, structure and succession of microbial communities has not been well understood. Here, we conducted an incubation experiment by mixing soil viruses and bacteria in different ratios, and tracked the changes in viral and bacterial cell abundances as well as bacterial community composition. Our results revealed that viral predation predominantly targeted host lineages that are r-strategists and was a key regulator of the succession of bacterial communities.