Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1989 Aug 10;340(6233):467-8.
doi: 10.1038/340467a0.

High abundance of viruses found in aquatic environments

O Bergh  1 , K Y Børsheim, G Bratbak, M Heldal
Affiliations

High abundance of viruses found in aquatic environments

O Bergh et al. Nature. .

Abstract

The concentration of bacteriophages in natural unpolluted waters is in general believed to be low, and they have therefore been considered ecologically unimportant. Using a new method for quantitative enumeration, we have found up to 2.5 x 10(8) virus particles per millilitre in natural waters. These concentrations indicate that virus infection may be an important factor in the ecological control of planktonic micro-organisms, and that viruses might mediate genetic exchange among bacteria in natural aquatic environments.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources