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Lysis, lysogeny and virus–microbe ratios

Nature volume 549, pages E1–E3 (2017)Cite this article

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ARISING FROM B. Knowles et al. Nature 531, 466–470 (2016); doi:10.1038/nature17193

In response to the Article by Knowles et al.1, we present analyses that we believe challenge the Piggyback-the-Winner model and the proposed mechanistic link between increases in lysogeny, suppression of lysis, and the decline of the virus-to-microbial cell ratio (VMR) at high microbial cell densities. We argue that an integrated research approach that combines mechanistic models with measurements inside and outside cells is needed to assess the importance and relevance of lysogeny in diverse microbiomes. There is a Reply to this Comment by Knowles, B & Rohwer, F. Nature 549, 10.1038/nature23296 (2017).

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Figure 1: Examining putative relationships between three lysogeny indicators and log-transformed microbial cell density within coral reefs.
Figure 2: Virus density is nonlinearly related to microbial cell density in several dynamic models, with declining VMR as a function of increasing microbial cell density.

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Author notes

  1. Jennifer R. Brum

    Present address: Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Joshua S. Weitz & Stephen J. Beckett

  2. School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Joshua S. Weitz

  3. Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Jennifer R. Brum

  4. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    B. B. Cael

  5. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA

    B. B. Cael

  6. Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Jonathan Dushoff

Authors
  1. Joshua S. Weitz
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  2. Stephen J. Beckett
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  3. Jennifer R. Brum
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  4. B. B. Cael
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Contributions

J.S.W. wrote the paper with input from S.J.B., J.R.B., B.B.C. and J.D. J.S.W., S.J.B. and B.B.C. performed model simulations and analysis. J.S.W., S.J.B. and B.B.C. performed statistical analysis. J.S.W., S.J.B., J.R.B., B.B.C. and J.D. analysed model and empirical data.

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Correspondence to Joshua S. Weitz.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Weitz, J., Beckett, S., Brum, J. et al. Lysis, lysogeny and virus–microbe ratios. Nature 549, E1–E3 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature23295

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