Soil viruses are abundant and diverse. The available research suggests viruses play a significant role in shaping the structure and function of soil microbial communities. Their effects are modulated by various environmental factors, including soil temperature, moisture, and geochemical conditions. This study investigated the persistence/inactivation of naturally occurring soil viruses added to sterilized soil, providing insights into virus decay under abiotic conditions. Soil microcosm experiments under saturated (slurry) conditions (5 g:12 mL) and unsaturated conditions (60% of field capacity) revealed a consistent decline in viral abundance over time. Under saturated conditions, there was a reduction of over 90% in viral abundance after 10 d, a steeper decline than the 55% reduction observed under unsaturated conditions during the same length of incubation. Notably, the composition of viruses also changed over time, and the remaining viruses demonstrated infectious capabilities for up to 13 d in saturated and 16 d in unsaturated soil, evidenced by changes in viral abundance upon the addition of live bacteria. Introducing live bacteria reduced the net viral dissipation in saturated soil but resulted in a net increase in viral abundance in unsaturated soil from 4.49 × 10 to 6.76 × 10 within 3 days. The increase in viral abundance in the unsaturated soil was partly due to the emergence of new viruses from prophage induction. This research presents a preliminary exploration into extracellular persistence of soil viruses under varying moisture conditions.

中文翻译：

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浆液和不饱和条件下病毒改良无菌土壤中的病毒衰变和群落组成

土壤病毒丰富多样。现有研究表明，病毒在塑造土壤微生物群落的结构和功能方面发挥着重要作用。它们的影响受到各种环境因素的调节，包括土壤温度、湿度和地球化学条件。这项研究调查了添加到灭菌土壤中的天然土壤病毒的持久性/灭活情况，为非生物条件下病毒的衰变提供了见解。饱和（浆液）条件（5 g:12 mL）和不饱和条件（田间容量的 60%）下的土壤微观实验表明，随着时间的推移，病毒丰度持续下降。在饱和条件下，10天后病毒丰度下降了90%以上，比在相同孵育时间期间不饱和条件下观察到的55%下降幅度更大。值得注意的是，病毒的组成也会随着时间的推移而变化，其余病毒在饱和土壤中表现出长达 13 天的感染能力，在不饱和土壤中表现出长达 16 天的感染能力，这可以通过添加活细菌后病毒丰度的变化来证明。引入活细菌减少了饱和土壤中的病毒净消散，但导致非饱和土壤中的病毒丰度在 3 天内从 4.49 × 10 净增加到 6.76 × 10 。非饱和土壤中病毒丰度的增加部分是由于原噬菌体诱导产生了新病毒。这项研究对土壤病毒在不同湿度条件下的细胞外持久性进行了初步探索。