One major conundrum of modern microbiology is the large pangenome (gene pool) present in microbes, which is much larger than those found in complex organisms such as humans. Here, we argue that this diversity of gene pools carried by different strains is maintained largely due to the control exercised by viral predation. Viruses maintain a high strain diversity through time that we describe as constant-diversity equilibrium, preventing the hoarding of resources by specific clones. Thus, viruses facilitate the release and degradation of dissolved organic matter in the ocean, which may lead to better ecosystem functioning by linking top-down to bottom-up control. By maintaining this equilibrium, viruses act as a key element of the adaptation of marine microbes to their environment and likely evolve as a single evolutionary unit.

中文翻译：

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病毒如何塑造微生物浮游生物的微多样性


现代微生物学的一个主要难题是微生物中存在的大型泛基因组（基因库），它比在人类等复杂生物体中发现的泛基因组（基因库）大得多。在这里，我们认为不同菌株携带的基因库的这种多样性在很大程度上是由于病毒捕食的控制而得以维持的。病毒随着时间的推移保持高度的菌株多样性，我们将其描述为恒定多样性平衡，防止特定克隆囤积资源。因此，病毒促进了海洋中溶解有机物的释放和降解，这可能通过将自上而下的控制与自下而上的控制联系起来，从而改善生态系统的功能。通过维持这种平衡，病毒成为海洋微生物适应环境的关键要素，并可能进化为一个单一的进化单位。