Biocrust succession significantly influences soil virus composition and alpha diversity in a sandy desert

Soil viruses, which are abundant and pivotal in soil ecology, remain understudied regarding composition, alpha diversity, and their association with cyanobacteria across different biocrust successional stages. We collected cyanobacteria crust, lichen crust, moss crust, and mixed crust in the Tengger Desert and evaluated virus and cyanobacteria composition through metagenomics. Phormidium phage MIS-PhV1A, Anabaena phage A -4L, and Shewanella SPP. dominated in all biocrusts. A 75 % positive correlation in the virus-cyanobacteria co -occurrence network was observed. Higher virus richness, abundance, and alpha diversity occurred in later successional stages of biocrust and were highly correlated with cyanobacteria diversity. Our results demonstrate that biocrust succession significantly influences soil virus composition and alpha diversity in a sandy desert.