Coastal marine ecosystems face escalating threats from multiple anthropogenic stressors, including the release of industrial contaminants. Despite decades of industrial activity impacting marine ecosystems, long‐term effects on microbial communities and related key ecological functions remain unclear. Here, we analysed the prokaryotic genetic signatures of extracellular DNA preserved in sediment layers dating from the mid‐17th...

The extracellular DNA pool in marine sediments is the largest reservoir of DNA of the world oceans and it potentially represents an archive of genetic information and gene sequences involved in natural transformation processes. However, no information is at present available for the gene sequences contained in the extracellular DNA and for the factors that influence their preservation. In the present study, we investigated the...

Summary Viral and prokaryote abundance were investigated in a deep‐hypersaline anoxic basin of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (DHAB Atalante basin at c . 3000 m depth). This system was compared with two nearby deep‐sea sites characterized by oxic conditions. Viral abundance and virus to prokaryote abundance ratio in hypersaline anoxic sediments displayed values close to those reported in oxic sites. The analysis of vertical pro...