Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25635642›Full record

ArticleThe ISME journal2015

A multitrophic model to quantify the effects of marine viruses on microbial food webs and ecosystem processes.

Joshua S Weitz, Charles A Stock, Steven W Wilhelm, Lydia Bourouiba, Maureen L Coleman, Alison Buchan, Michael J Follows, Jed A Fuhrman, Luis F Jover, Jay T Lennon and 7 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The ISME journal, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 115 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
115citing papers in PubMed
26.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

115 citing papers in PubMed, 268 citations in OpenAlex.

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  14. The microbial phosphorus cycle in aquatic ecosystems.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025
    Review
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  16. Article
  17. Article
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  20. Article

55 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors at 14 institutions in 5 countries.

Joshua S Weitz1] School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA [2] School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Charles A StockGeophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NOAA, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Steven W WilhelmDepartment of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Lydia BourouibaDepartment of Applied Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Maureen L ColemanDepartment of Geosciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Alison BuchanDepartment of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Michael J FollowsDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Jed A FuhrmanDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Luis F JoverSchool of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Jay T LennonDepartment of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Mathias MiddelboeMarine Biological Section, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Derek L SondereggerDepartment of Mathematics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
Curtis A SuttleDepartment of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Department of Botany, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Bradford P TaylorSchool of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
T Frede ThingstadDepartment of Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
William H WilsonBigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME, USA.
K Eric WommackDelaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Georgia Institute of Technology · USUniversity of Tennessee at Knoxville · USBigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences · USIndiana University Bloomington · USIT University of Copenhagen · DKMassachusetts Institute of Technology · USNOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory · USNorthern Arizona University · USPlanetary Science Institute · USUniversity of Bergen · NOUniversity of British Columbia · CAUniversity of Chicago · USUniversity of Delaware · USUniversity of Southern California · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Viral lysis of microbial hosts releases organic matter that can then be assimilated by nontargeted microorganisms. Quantitative estimates of virus-mediated recycling of carbon in marine waters, first established in the late 1990s, were originally extrapolated from marine host and virus densities, host carbon content and inferred viral lysis rates. Yet, these estimates did not explicitly incorporate the cascade of complex feedbacks associated with virus-mediated lysis. To evaluate the role of viruses in shaping community structure and ecosystem functioning, we extend dynamic multitrophic ecosystem models to include a virus component, specifically parameterized for processes taking place in the ocean euphotic zone. Crucially, we are able to solve this model analytically, facilitating evaluation of model behavior under many alternative parameterizations. Analyses reveal that the addition of a virus component promotes the emergence of complex communities. In addition, biomass partitioning of the emergent multitrophic community is consistent with well-established empirical norms in the surface oceans. At steady state, ecosystem fluxes can be probed to characterize the effects that viruses have when compared with putative marine surface ecosystems without viruses. The model suggests that ecosystems with viruses will have (1) increased organic matter recycling, (2) reduced transfer to higher trophic levels and (3) increased net primary productivity. These model findings support hypotheses that viruses can have significant stimulatory effects across whole-ecosystem scales. We suggest that existing efforts to predict carbon and nutrient cycling without considering virus effects are likely to miss essential features of marine food webs that regulate global biogeochemical cycles.

Indexed as

BiomassEcosystemFood ChainVirusesAnimalsBacteriaCarbonCyanobacteriaMicrobial InteractionsOceans and SeasWater MicrobiologyZooplanktonCarbon

Identifiers

PMID25635642
PMCPMC4438322
OpenAlexW1966273500

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.