Bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) span the planet in extraordinary numbers. From
oceans to deserts to the human body, metagenomics is uncovering the incredible genetic …

but typically outnumber coexisting microbial host cells by 10‐fold or more (Wommack and
Colwell 2000). Work in porous media environ ments such as soils (Ashelford et al. 2003; …