Virus-Induced Dormancy in the Archaeon Sulfolobus islandicus

Abstract

Viruses of microbes play key roles in microbial ecology; however, our understanding of viral impact on host physiology is based on a few model bacteria that represent a small fraction of the life history strategies employed by hosts or viruses across the three domains that encompass the microbial world. We have demonstrated that rare and even inactive viruses induce dormancy in the model archaeon S. islandicus. Similar virus-induced dormancy strategies in other microbial systems may help to explain several confounding observations in other systems, including the surprising abundance of dormant cell types found in many microbial environments, the difficulty of culturing microorganisms in the laboratory, and the paradoxical virus-to-host abundances that do not match model predictions. A more accurate grasp of virus-host interactions will expand our understanding of the impact of viruses in microbial ecology.