Bacteriophages (phages) play a vital role in ecosystem functions by influencing the composition, genetic exchange, metabolism, and environmental adaptation of microbial communities. With recent advances in sequencing technologies and bioinformatics, our understanding of the ecology and evolution of phages in stressful environments has substantially expanded. Here, we review the impact of physicochemical environmental stress on the physiological state and community dynamics of phages, the adaptive strategies that phages employ to cope with environmental stress, and the ecological effects of phage–host interactions in stressful environments. Specifically, we highlight the contributions of phages to the adaptive evolution and functioning of microbiomes and suggest that phages and their hosts can maintain a mutualistic relationship in response to environmental stress. In addition, we discuss the ecological consequences caused by phages in stressful environments, encompassing biogeochemical cycling. Overall, this review advances an understanding of phage ecology in stressful environments, which could inform phage-based strategies to improve microbiome performance and ecosystem resilience and resistance in natural and engineering systems.

噬菌体通过影响微生物群落的组成、遗传交换、代谢和环境适应，在生态系统功能中发挥着至关重要的作用。随着测序技术和生物信息学的最新进展，我们对压力环境中噬菌体的生态和进化的理解已经大大扩展。在此，我们回顾了理化环境应激对噬菌体生理状态和群落动态的影响、噬菌体应对环境应激的适应性策略以及应激环境下噬菌体与宿主相互作用的生态效应。具体来说，我们强调了噬菌体对微生物组的适应性进化和功能的贡献，并表明噬菌体及其宿主可以在应对环境压力时保持互惠关系。此外，我们还讨论了噬菌体在应激环境中引起的生态后果，包括生物地球化学循环。总的来说，这篇综述增进了对压力环境中噬菌体生态学的理解，这可以为基于噬菌体的策略提供信息，以改善自然和工程系统中的微生物组性能以及生态系统的弹性和抵抗力。