Fig. 6. Virus-induced mortality of bacteria and archaea.

Reported are average values and SDs of the virus-induced mortality of bacteria (A) and archaea (B) along vertical profiles at depth intervals of 0 to 1, 10 to 15, 20 to 30, and 40 to 50 cm, and the integrated values for the top 50 cm (C), of deep-sea sediments collected from Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Pacific Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Asterisks indicate significantly higher (*P < 0.05) virus-induced mortality rates of archaea as found for all the oceanographic regions investigated.