Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Paez-Espino, David
• Eloe-Fadrosh, Emiley A.
• Pavlopoulos, Georgios A.
• Thomas, Alex D.
• Huntemann, Marcel
• Mikhailova, Natalia
• Rubin, Edward
• Ivanova, Natalia N.
• Kyrpides, Nikos C.

Titel

Uncovering Earth’s virome

Ist Teil von

• Nature (London), 2016-08, Vol.536 (7617), p.425-430

Ort / Verlag

London: Nature Publishing Group UK

Erscheinungsjahr

2016

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth, but challenges in detecting, isolating, and classifying unknown viruses have prevented exhaustive surveys of the global virome. Here we analysed over 5 Tb of metagenomic sequence data from 3,042 geographically diverse samples to assess the global distribution, phylogenetic diversity, and host specificity of viruses. We discovered over 125,000 partial DNA viral genomes, including the largest phage yet identified, and increased the number of known viral genes by 16-fold. Half of the predicted partial viral genomes were clustered into genetically distinct groups, most of which included genes unrelated to those in known viruses. Using CRISPR spacers and transfer RNA matches to link viral groups to microbial host(s), we doubled the number of microbial phyla known to be infected by viruses, and identified viruses that can infect organisms from different phyla. Analysis of viral distribution across diverse ecosystems revealed strong habitat-type specificity for the vast majority of viruses, but also identified some cosmopolitan groups. Our results highlight an extensive global viral diversity and provide detailed insight into viral habitat distribution and host–virus interactions. An integrated computational approach that explores the viral content of more than 3,000 metagenomic samples collected globally highlights the existing global viral diversity, increases the known number of viral genes by an order of magnitude, and provides detailed insights into viral distribution across diverse ecosystems and into virus–host interactions. A map of the viral world Viruses influence virtually all of the biogeochemical processes occurring on our planet, but they remain enigmatic because it has proved difficult to detect, isolate and classify them in large-scale studies. However, in recent years a vast amount of metagenomic data have been collected, and now Nikos Kyrpides and colleagues have developed a computational approach to extract more detail from that dataset and create the first global map of viral biogeography. They explore the viral content of more than 3,000 metagenomic samples collected globally, identify 125,000 partial DNA viral genomes — including the largest known phage — and increase the number of known viral genes 16-fold.