Virus-host dynamics in archaeal groundwater biofilms and the associated bacterial community composition

Abstract

Lytic viruses can be prevalent in deep groundwater, yet their spatial and temporal distribution in such an ecosystem remains unexplored. Here, we tackle this gap of knowledge by studying viral infections in individual, archaea-dominated biofilm flocks sampled from deep anoxic groundwater over a period of three years. Using virusFISH whose detection efficiency for individual viral particles was 15%, we show a significant and steady increase of virus infections between the years 2019 and 2022. Based on various fluorescence micrographs of individual biofilm flocks, we determined different stages of viral infections in biofilms for single sampling events, demonstrating the progression of infection of biofilms in deep groundwater. Biofilms associated with many host cells undergoing lysis showed a substantial accumulation of filamentous microbes around infected cells probably feeding off host cell debris. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing across ten individual biofilm flocks from one sampling event, we determined that the associated bacterial community remains relatively constant and was dominated by Desulfobacterota. Given the stability of the virus-host interaction in these deep groundwater samples, we postulate that the virus-host dynamics of Ca. Altiarchaeum hamiconexum and its abundant virus Altivir_1_MSI described herein represent a suitable model system for studying deep biosphere virus-host interactions in future research endeavors.

Differential expression of core metabolic functions inCandidatusAltiarchaeum inhabiting distinct subsurface ecosystems

“…Ca . A. hamiconexum has been described to be infected by at least two different viruses, one of which is a lytic virus 16,27 . In agreement with these findings, the differential expression analysis revealed a significant increase of the gene encoding for a phage shock proteins, which are a stress response to membrane penetration by invading mobile genetic elements (MGEs) 28 , in MSI compared to CG.…”