High lytic infection rates but low abundances of prokaryote viruses in a humic lake (Vassivière, Massif Central, France)

We explored the abundance and infection rates of viruses on a time series scale in the euphotic zone of the humic mesotrophic Lake Vassivière (Massif Central, France) and compared them to nonhumic lakes of contrasting trophy (i.e., the oligomesotrophic Lake Pavin and the eutrophic Lake Aydat) located in the same geographical region and sampled during the same period. In Lake Vassivière, the abundances of virus-like particles (range, 1.7 × 10 10 to 2.6 × 10 10 liter −1 ) were significantly ( P < 0.001) lower than in Lakes Pavin and Aydat. The percentage of virus-infected prokaryotic cells (mean, 18.0%) was significantly higher ( P < 0.001) in Vassivière than in Pavin (mean, 11.5%) and Aydat (mean, 9.7%). In Vassivière, the abundance of prokaryotes was a good predictor ( r = 0.78, P < 0.001) of the number of virus-like particles, while the potential grazing rate from heterotrophic nanoflagellates was positively correlated to the viral infection rate ( r = 0.75, P < 0.001; n = 20), indicating the prevalence of cycling interactions among viruses, prokaryotes, and grazers, which is in agreement with past experiments. The absence of correlation between chlorophyll a concentrations (Chl) and viral parameters suggested that the resources for the lytic activity of viruses in Vassivière were mainly under allochthonous control, through host activity. Indeed, compilation of data obtained from several nonhumic lakes in the French Massif Central revealed that Chl was positively correlated to the abundance of virus-like particles at concentrations above 0.5 μg Chl liter −1 and negatively at concentrations below 0.5 μg Chl liter −1 , suggesting that phytoplankton-derived resources could force prokaryotic growth to attain a certain threshold level when the host availability is sufficient to boost the proliferation of viruses. Therefore, based on the high level of lytic infection rates in Lake Vassivière, we conclude that viruses are key agents for prokaryotic mortality and could influence the food web dynamics in humic lakes, which may ultimately depend on the internal cycling of resources and, perhaps, mainly on the allochthonous inputs and the associated humic substances.