| Viruses thrive in all types of ecosystems where life is found. They represent the most abundant biological entity of our biosphere. Though several studies have been conducted on viral abundance and dynamics in mesophilic aquatic ecosystems, these aspects remain largely unexplored in extremophilic environments, such as hot springs. In this study, prokaryotic and associated viral communities of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands hot springs were explored. First, prokaryotic cells and Virus-like particles (VLP) were enumerated in several terrestrial and inshore hot springs. The results reveal an abundance of 105 - 106 particles/ml in both types of hot springs studied. The virus-to-prokaryote ratios (VPR) were generally low, confirming thus actual... |
