Virus ecology and disturbances: impact of environmental disruption on the viruses of microorganisms

Viruses of microorganisms (VoMs)—the encapsidated, acelluluar parasites of archaea, bacteria, and microbial eukaryotes (Hyman and Abedon, 2012)—can be both responsive to and the source of change in their environments. Defining the diverse VoMs in an environment has become easier with the advent of various new technologies, so analyzing VoM populations or communities involved with disturbances could be the next step to drive research forward. Contributions assembled in this Research Topic explore the effects of disturbances on one type of VoM, the bacteriophages (phages), as well as disturbances caused by phages. The collection presented in this ebook opens with an editorial describing the importance of change to life on Earth, and by defining the multiple levels at which change can occur: genetic, organismal, and environmental (Allen and Abedon, 2013). We have arranged and introduced the manuscripts in this collection based on which of these levels they address.