The marine microbial food web is a key driver of global carbon cycling, mediating the production, consumption, and remineralization of organic matter in the ocean. Within this food web, viruses exert strong top‐down control by infecting and lysing both phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria. Although virus‐induced mortality is recognized as a factor shaping microbial dynamics, accurately quantifying its contribution to carbo...

Photosynthetic microorganisms are responsible for primary production at the base of the marine food web and influence global biogeochemistry. Their growth is balanced by mortality processes, including zooplankton grazing and viral lysis. These predators coexist despite competing for the same microorganisms. Here, we develop a community model of photosynthetic microorganisms, grazers and viruses that incorporates elemental quot...

Cyanobacterial distributions are shaped by abiotic factors including temperature, light and nutrient availability as well as biotic factors such as grazing and viral infection. In this study, we investigated the abundances of T4‐like and T7‐like cyanophages and the extent of picocyanobacterial infection in the cold, high‐nutrient‐low‐chlorophyll, sub‐Antarctic waters of the southwest Pacific Ocean during austral spring. Synech...

Marine viruses interact with microbial hosts in dynamic environments shaped by variation in abiotic factors, including temperature. However, the impacts of temperature on viral infection of phytoplankton are not well understood. Here we coupled mathematical modelling with experiments to explore the effect of temperature on virus‐phytoplankton interactions. Our model shows the negative consequences of high temperatures on infec...