《生命科学》 2026, 38(3): 413-427
海洋热液生态系统病毒多样性与生态功能研究进展
摘 要：
海洋热液生态系统是地球上最极端的生态环境之一，孕育着丰富且独特的微生物与病毒群落。现有研究表明，热液病毒具有高丰度、高多样性、高新颖性等显著特征，并通过“病毒分流”作用与辅助代谢基因深度参与微生物群落动态调控、物质循环与能量流动等关键生态过程。本综述总结了近年来有关热液病毒的多样性、群落结构特征、病毒-宿主互作机制及生态功能的最新进展，并展望了未来待解决的关键科学问题与潜在发展方向，期望为推动热液生物圈研究的深入发展提供参考。
通讯作者：肖湘 , Email:zjxiao2018@sjtu.edu.cn 蹇华哗 , Email:jiandy@sjtu.edu.cn
Abstract:
Marine hydrothermal ecosystems represent some of the most extreme environments on Earth, harboring diverse and unique microbial and viral communities. Existing studies have demonstrated that hydrothermal viruses exhibit distinct characteristics, including high abundance, vast diversity, and remarkable novelty. These viruses deeply participate in key ecological processes, such as microbial community dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, and energy flow, through the ″viral shunt″ effect and the carrying of auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs). This review summarizes recent progress in the diversity, community structure, virus-host interaction mechanisms, and ecological functions of hydrothermal viruses. It further discusses key scientific questions and potential future directions, aiming to provide a comprehensive reference for advancing research within the hydrothermal biosphere. Based on a systematic synthesis of representative studies, current research progress on hydrothermal viruses is categorized into the following four core sections. First, significant spatial heterogeneity. The abundance distribution and evolutionary trajectory of hydrothermal viruses are jointly driven by habitat types, geographic isolation, and host community structures, resulting in unique ecological patterns. Second, extraordinary morphological and evolutionary diversity. Metagenomic data indicate that the vast majority of hydrothermal viruses cannot be assigned to existing taxonomic frameworks; among classifiable groups, Caudoviricetes represent the predominant double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viral taxa in these environments. Third, unique life-history strategies. The survival modes of hydrothermal viruses are shaped by their infection mechanisms and life-history strategies (lytic or temperate). Whether hydrothermal viruses are predominantly virulent or temperate remains a matter of debate and is yet to be conclusively determined. Fourth, multidimensional ecological functions. Acting as ″regulators″ of the ecosystem, viruses maintain community stability through flexible switching between lytic and lysogenic cycles. Furthermore, they facilitate horizontal gene transfer among hosts by carrying AMGs or integrating into host genomes via lysogenic pathways, thereby promoting genetic exchange and functional innovation to help hosts adapt to extreme hydrothermal conditions. Despite substantial progress, critical knowledge gaps remain. Systematic research on hydrothermal RNA viruses is still in its infancy, leaving the full diversity of the virosphere partially unrevealed. Additionally, bottlenecks in cultivation techniques have limited the successful isolation of hydrothermal viruses and their microbial hosts, constraining indepth analysis of their biological traits. Looking forward, breakthroughs in hydrothermal viral research will depend on the deep integration of multidisciplinary approaches. By combining multi-omics technologies with biochemical experiments, researchers can strengthen the functional validation of viral proteins and the resolution of virus-host interaction mechanisms. This will enhance the accuracy of functional inference for unknown viral genes, ultimately leading to the systematic construction of viral gene expression profiles and regulatory networks in hydrothermal ecosystems.
Communication Author：XIAO Xiang , Email:zjxiao2018@sjtu.edu.cn JIAN Hua-Hua , Email:jiandy@sjtu.edu.cn
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