{
  "abstract": "Deep soils store over half of terrestrial organic carbon, yet the viral mechanisms governing carbon persistence in subsurface remain unclear. Here, by conducting a soil profile survey (0-700 cm) across four agroecosystems and a global synthesis of subsurface metagenomes, we established the Deep Soil Viral Resources Database, comprising 50,949 vOTUs and 3,902 AMGs. Viral richness increased significantly with depth, accompanied by a shift toward lysogeny driven by declining carbon availability. The deep soil virome carried AMGs and lysozymes involved in polymer degradation and cell endolysis. Viral endolysin significantly promoted necromass carbon accumulation, which contributed to increase in mineral-associated organic carbon. A synthesis of 138 global soil profiles further revealed a positive effect of viral abundance on soil organic carbon. Our findings establish a framework where viruses strengthen the microbial carbon pump in deep soils by facilitating host carbon scavenging via AMGs and promoting necromass formation via endolysin activity.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Xing-Jie Wu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wan-Xue Han"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chao Liang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ji Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Graeme Nicol"
    },
    {
      "name": "Matthias Rillig"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dong Zhu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bin-Bin Liu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Feng-Hua Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ke-Qing Xiao"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yong-Guan Zhu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c68ndvr94ptcb.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41559-026-03207-x",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "c68ndvr94ptcb",
  "issns": [
    "2397-334X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05855401v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "hal",
      "0.sde"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2406|Bacteriophages and microbial interactions"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223128114",
  "pdf_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05855401/document",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": "Nature",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c68ndvr94ptcb.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T12:20:26Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05855401",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05855401v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "hal:0.sde",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Soil viruses as key regulators of the microbial carbon pump in deep soils",
  "title_text": "Soil viruses as key regulators of the microbial carbon pump in deep soils",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T12:20:26Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c68ndvr94ptcb",
  "venue": "Nature Ecology & Evolution",
  "versions": []
}