User:Curt99/sandbox

Viral Shunt
The viral shunt is a link in biogeochemical cycles in which particulate organic material (POC) released from cells as the the result of lysis by viruses is recycled by heterotrophic bacteria through the microbial loop. The process has been implicated in the direct recycling of organic nutrients and the indirect recycling of inorganic nutrients and the stimulation of [[phytoplankton] growth and primary productivity.