Soil viruses as key regulators of the microbial carbon pump in deep soils
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.
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BibTeX
@article{wu2026soil,
title = {{Soil viruses as key regulators of the microbial carbon pump in deep soils}},
author = {Xing-Jie Wu and Wan-Xue Han and Chao Liang and Ji Chen and Graeme Nicol and Matthias Rillig and Dong Zhu and Bin-Bin Liu and Feng-Hua Wang and Ke-Qing Xiao and Yong-Guan Zhu},
journal = {Nature Ecology \& Evolution},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41559-026-03207-x},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05855401v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Soil viruses as key regulators of the microbial carbon pump in deep soils
AU - Xing-Jie Wu
AU - Wan-Xue Han
AU - Chao Liang
AU - Ji Chen
AU - Graeme Nicol
AU - Matthias Rillig
AU - Dong Zhu
AU - Bin-Bin Liu
AU - Feng-Hua Wang
AU - Ke-Qing Xiao
AU - Yong-Guan Zhu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Nature Ecology & Evolution
DO - 10.1038/s41559-026-03207-x
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05855401v1
AB - 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.
SN - 2397-334X
ER -