Viruses in Subsurface Environments

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, our knowledge of virus diversity and abundance in subsurface environments has expanded dramatically through application of quantitative metagenomic approaches. In most subsurface environments, viral diversity and abundance rival viral diversity and abundance observed in surface environments. Most of these viruses are uncharacterized in terms of their hosts and replication cycles. Analysis of accessory metabolic genes encoded by subsurface viruses indicates that they evolved to replicate within the unique features of their environments. The key question remains: What role do these viruses play in the ecology and evolution of the environments in which they replicate? Undoubtedly, as more virologists examine the role of viruses in subsurface environments, new insights will emerge.

Viruses in deep-sea cold seep sediments harbor diverse survival mechanisms and remain genetically conserved within species

“…As an important mechanism in adaptation to the environment, viruses can acquire new functional genes via transduction, i.e., auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) that contribute to host and/or viral fitness 4, 46 . Ten AMGs were identified in 7 viral genomes ( Figure 3d, Supplementary Figure 8 and Supplementary Table 9 ), related to four different types of functions.…”

“…To date, studies of viral ecology and evolution have paid little attention to how subsurface viruses evolve to adjust to their surrounding environment and interact with their hosts 4,25,26,57 Together, these analyses of evolutionary dynamics of viruses will help guide future studies targeting the viral evolution and virus-host systems in extreme environments.…”

“…To date, studies of viral ecology and evolution have paid little attention to how subsurface viruses evolve to adjust to their surrounding environment and interact with their hosts 4, 25, 26, 57 . Besides investigating structural and functional characteristics of viral communities, this study highlights evolutionary adaptation patterns of viruses at different sediment depths in cold seeps that are active and extinct.…”

“…The continuous seepage of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons boosts local biodiversity and microbial activity, featuring prevalent archaeal anaerobic methanotrophs (ANME) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) 1, 2 . Compared to the rich knowledge of cold seep bacterial and archaeal communities, viruses remain largely underexplored in spite of their significant roles in impacting microbes and corresponding biogeochemical cycles 3, 4 . Virus studies using enumeration or cultivation have shown that cold seep sediments are hotspots of viral production with high virus-prokaryote ratios 5, 6 .…”

Viruses in deep-sea cold seep sediments harbor diverse survival mechanisms and remain genetically conserved within species

“…The continuous seepage of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons boosts local biodiversity and microbial activity, featuring prevalent archaeal anaerobic methanotrophs (ANME) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) [ 1 , 2 ]. Compared to the rich knowledge of cold seep bacterial and archaeal communities, viruses remain largely underexplored in spite of their significant roles in impacting microbes and corresponding biogeochemical cycles [ 3 , 4 ]. Virus studies using enumeration or cultivation have shown that cold seep sediments are hotspots of viral production with high virus-prokaryote ratios [ 5 , 6 ].…”