Oysters as microbial engineers govern planktonic viral and microbial dynamics

Oysters as microbial engineers govern planktonic viral and microbial dynamics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Biological Sciences - Article Oysters as microbial engineers govern planktonic viral and microbial dynamics Mark Little, Zackary Johnson, Aaron Hartmann, Barbara Bailey, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8124427/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Oysters are ecosystem engineers that restructure their environments through intense filtration and reef-building, known for their ability to remove plankton and particulates from seawater. As microbialization and eutrophication increasingly undermine coastal water quality, understanding how oyster filtration shapes viral and microbial assemblages is essential to evaluate its role in countering these degradation processes. Here, we incubated the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, in natural seawater and conducted a high-resolution 24-hour time-series analysis to track changes in viral and microbial abundances. Oysters preferentially removed autotrophic microbes, skewing community composition toward heterotrophy and altering local carbon and energy fluxes. Understanding the extent to which viral and microbial components contribute to oyster nutrition could provide new insights into these shifts and their broader ecological consequences. Viral abundances displayed Lotka–Volterra-like oscillations, suggesting that phage replication was sustained through lytic cycling rather than integration into microbial genomes, even under reduced microbial availability. Elevated virus-to-microbe ratios (VMRs) in oyster-associated mucus compared to ambient seawater points to a role of bacteriophage adherence-to-mucus (BAM) in modulating host-microbiome interactions within the oyster holobiont. Together, these findings highlight oysters as ecosystem de-microbializers and holobiont viralizers, simultaneously suppressing water-column microbes and stimulating localized viral activity that reshapes microbial interactions and coastal biogeochemistry. Biological sciences/Ecology/Microbial ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Marine biology viral engineering phage microbial engineering bacteria protists microbialization viralization Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8124427","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Biological Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":560851936,"identity":"f9481e4a-3de6-4ddb-b610-55188ab002ef","order_by":0,"name":"Mark 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