The Scientist interviewed Steven Wilhelm of the Department of Microbiology for a story examining the cause of the destruction of archaea–single-celled microorganisms–on the deep sea floor.
One study indicated that archaea suffer viral infections about twice as often as bacteria despite the latter being more abundant.
Wilhelm, who was not involved in the study, said “[This] appears to be a careful and thorough study that has significant implications for microbial communities across all oceanic basins. [It] implies that certain microbial populations are much more susceptible to virus activity in these deep ocean regions.”