A bacteriophage virus can kill microbes by affecting what happens to the carbon in their bodies
nobeastsofierce Science/Alay
Viruses that infect other microbes can affect the movement of more than a billion tons of soil carbon, according to the first attempt to quantify their role in one of the planet’s major carbon stores.
“While there are still gaps, we’re understanding that viruses can have a big impact on soil carbon,” he says. Kirsten Hofmockel at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state.
The soils of the earth are full of…
