Widespread yet persistent low abundance of TIM5‐like cyanophages in the oceans

Ocean ecosystems are inhabited by a diverse set of viruses that impact microbial mortality and evolution. However, the distribution and abundances of specific viral lineages, particularly those from the large bank of rare viruses, remains largely unknown. Here, we assessed the diversity and abundanc...

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Published in:Environmental microbiology 2022-12, Vol.24 (12), p.6476-6492
Main Authors: Baran, Nava, Carlson, Michael C. G., Sabehi, Gazalah, Peleg, Margalit, Kondratyeva, Kira, Pekarski, Irena, Lindell, Debbie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Annual cycles
Annual variations
Bacteriophages - genetics
Conserved sequence
Ecosystem
Euphotic zone
Expeditions
Genomes
Indian Ocean
Marine ecosystems
Microorganisms
Multiship expeditions
Nucleotide sequence
Oceans
Oceans and Seas
PCR
Phylogeny
Polymerase chain reaction
Synechococcus - genetics
Viruses
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Summary:Ocean ecosystems are inhabited by a diverse set of viruses that impact microbial mortality and evolution. However, the distribution and abundances of specific viral lineages, particularly those from the large bank of rare viruses, remains largely unknown. Here, we assessed the diversity and abundance of the TIM5‐like cyanophages. The sequencing of three new TIM5‐like cyanophage genomes and environmental amplicons of a signature gene from the Red Sea revealed highly conserved gene content and sequence similarity. We adapted the polony method, a solid‐phase polymerase chain reaction assay, to quantify TIM5‐like cyanophages during three 2000 km expeditions in the Pacific Ocean and four annual cycles in the Red Sea. TIM5‐like cyanophages were widespread, detected at all latitudes and seasons surveyed throughout the photic zone. Yet they were generally rare, ranging between
ISSN:1462-2912
1462-2920
DOI:10.1111/1462-2920.16210