Advances in understanding archaea-virus interactions in controlled and natural environments

► We examine results from culture-dependent approaches for studying archaeal host-virus interactions. ► We survey studies of culture-independent experiments for four archaeal viruses. ► CRISPR loci will be useful in detecting novel viruses within the environment. ► Viral metagenomics will provide insights into a virus's ecological role in an environment. ► A combination of culture-dependent and culture-independent tools is required to study host-virus interactions.