ArticleThe ISME journal2026
Viral lysis accelerates microbial succession patterns resembling diatom senescence.
Article in The ISME journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Diatom blooms influence carbon cycling through organic matter production and its deposition or remineralization-processes mediated by the microbial community. Viruses can influence diatom bloom dynamics and even terminate blooms, yet interactions between diatoms, their viruses, and associated bacteria remain poorly resolved. Here, we examined how infection of the toxigenic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia galaxiae by its ssRNA virus PnGalRNAV reshapes host physiology, microbiome structure, and organic-matter processing in non-axenic batch cultures. Using epi-fluorescence microscopy, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, and metatranscriptomics, we linked microbial composition, localisation, and functional activity during viral lysis. Infection rapidly collapsed diatom growth and induced a senescence-like host state, with broad repression of photosynthesis, silicon metabolism, and core biosynthetic pathways, alongside induction of heat-shock and other stress-related genes. Concurrently, phycosphere-associated bacteria declined, detritosphere-associated bacteria increased, and community composition shifted from Marinobacter (Gammaproteobacteria) dominated, towards Flavobacteriaceae (Bacteroidetes) dominated, especially by Polaribacter. In non-infected controls Alphaproteobacteria proved to benefit from the stable healthy phycospheres with a distinct DOM pool. Bacterial metatranscriptomes showed significant upregulation of polysaccharide-degradation-associated genes in infected cultures, indicating active utilisation of lysis-derived diatom glycans. Similar compositional and metabolic profiles in infected cultures and later-stage senescent controls suggest infection accelerated senescence-associated microbial processes. Overall, viral lysis converted a productive diatom culture into a detrital, DOM-rich environment that selects for specialized polysaccharide degraders, redirects carbon through the viral shunt and may accelerate nutrient recycling in coastal systems. Extending this approach to natural microbial communities and diverse diatom-virus systems will help determine whether these mechanisms are broadly conserved.
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