Counts and sequences, observations that continue to change ourunderstanding of viruses in nature

• Published in: The journal of microbiology 2015, 53(3), , pp.181-192
• Main Authors: K. Eric Wommack, Daniel J. Nasko, Jessica Chopyk, Eric G. Sakowski
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 생물학
• ISSN: 1225-8873; 1976-3794
• DOI: 10.1007/s12275-015-5068-6

The discovery of abundant viruses in the oceans and on landhas ushered in a quarter century of groundbreaking advancementsin our understanding of viruses within ecosystems. Two types of observations from environmental samples –direct counts of viral particles and viral metagenomic sequences– have been critical to these discoveries. Accuratedirect counts have established ecosystem-scale trends in theimpacts of viral infection on microbial host populations andhave shown that viral communities within aquatic and soilenvironments respond to both short term and seasonal environmentalchange. Direct counts have been critical for estimatingviral production rate, a measurement essential toquantifying the implications of viral infection for the biogeochemicalcycling of nutrients within ecosystems. Whiledirect counts have defined the magnitude of viral processes;shotgun sequences of environmental viral DNA – viromesequences – have enabled researchers to estimate the diversityand composition of natural viral communities. Virome-enabledstudies have found the virioplankton to contain thousandsof viral genotypes in communities where the mostdominant viral population accounts for a small fraction oftotal abundance followed by a long tail of diverse populations. Detailed examination of long virome sequences hasled to new understanding of genotype-to-phenotype connectionswithin marine viruses and revealed that viruses carrymetabolic genes that are important to maintaining cellularenergy during viral replication. Increased access to long viromesequences will undoubtedly reveal more genetic secretsof viruses and enable us to build a genomics rulebook forpredicting key biological and ecological features of unknownviruses. KCI Citation Count: 41