Scientists map virus-host networks in freshwater lakes, revealing hidden microbial dynamics
Researchers used a new technique to identify 100 active virus-host relationships in freshwater microbial communities, uncovering infection patterns that shape ecosystem function. The findings could inform water quality management, biotechnology applications, and our understanding of how microbial communities respond to environmental changes.
Originaltitel: Eco-evolutionary dynamics of active virus-host interactions in a freshwater lake: revealed through metaHi-C
ABSTRACT Detecting active phage–bacteria interactions in natural microbial communities remains a major limitation for understanding their ecological dynamics and associated co-evolutionary processes. Here, we applied metaHi-C, a chromosome conformation capture method, to resolve active virus–host associations in a freshwater microbial community. From >900 microbial and >33,000 viral Hi-C–assembled genomes, we identified 100 high-confidence phage–host linkages spanning major freshwater bacterial lineages, including Limnohabitans , Acidimicrobium , Synechococcus , Candidatus Nanopelagicus, Candidatus Planktophila, Candidatus Methylopumilus and Polynucleobacter . The inferred networks revealed diverse infection patterns, including broad-host-range phages, cellular-level co-infection, kill-the-winner dynamics and one-to-one interactions. These ecological patterns were associated with signatures of diversifying selection in host-interaction genes, consistent with host-range expansion, alongside conserved genomic regions in broad-host-range and co-infecting phages, indicating functional constraints on essential infection modules. Together, these results demonstrate that metaHi-C enables direct linking of community-level infection dynamics to underlying evolutionary processes, revealing how these forces shape bacterial population dynamics of freshwater bacteria.