Surface microlayer-mediated virome dissemination in the Central Arctic
Abstract Background Aquatic viruses act as key players in shaping microbial communities. In polar environments, they face significant challenges such as limited host availability and harsh conditions. However, due to the restricted accessibility of these ecosystems, our understanding of viral divers...
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BMC
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Microbiome |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-024-01902-0 |
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| author | Janina Rahlff George Westmeijer Julia Weissenbach Alfred Antson Karin Holmfeldt |
| author_facet | Janina Rahlff George Westmeijer Julia Weissenbach Alfred Antson Karin Holmfeldt |
| author_sort | Janina Rahlff |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Aquatic viruses act as key players in shaping microbial communities. In polar environments, they face significant challenges such as limited host availability and harsh conditions. However, due to the restricted accessibility of these ecosystems, our understanding of viral diversity, abundance, adaptations, and host interactions remains limited. Results To fill this knowledge gap, we studied viruses from atmosphere-close aquatic ecosystems in the Central Arctic and Northern Greenland. Aquatic samples for virus-host analysis were collected from ~60 cm depth and the submillimeter surface microlayer (SML) during the Synoptic Arctic Survey 2021 on icebreaker Oden in the Arctic summer. Water was sampled from a melt pond and open water before undergoing size-fractioned filtration, followed by genome-resolved metagenomic and cultivation investigations. The prokaryotic diversity in the melt pond was considerably lower compared to that of open water. The melt pond was dominated by a Flavobacterium sp. and Aquiluna sp., the latter having a relatively small genome size of 1.2 Mb and the metabolic potential to generate ATP using the phosphate acetyltransferase-acetate kinase pathway. Viral diversity on the host fraction (0.2–5 µm) of the melt pond was strikingly limited compared to that of open water. From the 1154 viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUs), of which two-thirds were predicted bacteriophages, 17.2% encoded for auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) with metabolic functions. Some AMGs like glycerol-3-phosphate cytidylyltransferase and ice-binding like proteins might serve to provide cryoprotection for the host. Prophages were often associated with SML genomes, and two active prophages of new viral genera from the Arctic SML strain Leeuwenhoekiella aequorea Arc30 were induced. We found evidence that vOTU abundance in the SML compared to that of ~60 cm depth was more positively correlated with the distribution of a vOTU across five different Arctic stations. Conclusions The results indicate that viruses employ elaborate strategies to endure in extreme, host-limited environments. Moreover, our observations suggest that the immediate air-sea interface serves as a platform for viral distribution in the Central Arctic. Video Abstract |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-05173ec5c3af41c28b6955cdc2deae9d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2049-2618 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microbiome |
| spelling | doaj-art-05173ec5c3af41c28b6955cdc2deae9d2025-08-20T02:11:21ZengBMCMicrobiome2049-26182024-10-0112111710.1186/s40168-024-01902-0Surface microlayer-mediated virome dissemination in the Central ArcticJanina Rahlff0George Westmeijer1Julia Weissenbach2Alfred Antson3Karin Holmfeldt4Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS), Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaeus UniversityCentre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS), Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaeus UniversityCentre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS), Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaeus UniversityYork Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of YorkCentre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS), Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaeus UniversityAbstract Background Aquatic viruses act as key players in shaping microbial communities. In polar environments, they face significant challenges such as limited host availability and harsh conditions. However, due to the restricted accessibility of these ecosystems, our understanding of viral diversity, abundance, adaptations, and host interactions remains limited. Results To fill this knowledge gap, we studied viruses from atmosphere-close aquatic ecosystems in the Central Arctic and Northern Greenland. Aquatic samples for virus-host analysis were collected from ~60 cm depth and the submillimeter surface microlayer (SML) during the Synoptic Arctic Survey 2021 on icebreaker Oden in the Arctic summer. Water was sampled from a melt pond and open water before undergoing size-fractioned filtration, followed by genome-resolved metagenomic and cultivation investigations. The prokaryotic diversity in the melt pond was considerably lower compared to that of open water. The melt pond was dominated by a Flavobacterium sp. and Aquiluna sp., the latter having a relatively small genome size of 1.2 Mb and the metabolic potential to generate ATP using the phosphate acetyltransferase-acetate kinase pathway. Viral diversity on the host fraction (0.2–5 µm) of the melt pond was strikingly limited compared to that of open water. From the 1154 viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUs), of which two-thirds were predicted bacteriophages, 17.2% encoded for auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) with metabolic functions. Some AMGs like glycerol-3-phosphate cytidylyltransferase and ice-binding like proteins might serve to provide cryoprotection for the host. Prophages were often associated with SML genomes, and two active prophages of new viral genera from the Arctic SML strain Leeuwenhoekiella aequorea Arc30 were induced. We found evidence that vOTU abundance in the SML compared to that of ~60 cm depth was more positively correlated with the distribution of a vOTU across five different Arctic stations. Conclusions The results indicate that viruses employ elaborate strategies to endure in extreme, host-limited environments. Moreover, our observations suggest that the immediate air-sea interface serves as a platform for viral distribution in the Central Arctic. Video Abstracthttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-024-01902-0Surface microlayerPolarPhageLysogenyMelt pondMetagenomics |
| spellingShingle | Janina Rahlff George Westmeijer Julia Weissenbach Alfred Antson Karin Holmfeldt Surface microlayer-mediated virome dissemination in the Central Arctic Microbiome Surface microlayer Polar Phage Lysogeny Melt pond Metagenomics |
| title | Surface microlayer-mediated virome dissemination in the Central Arctic |
| title_full | Surface microlayer-mediated virome dissemination in the Central Arctic |
| title_fullStr | Surface microlayer-mediated virome dissemination in the Central Arctic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surface microlayer-mediated virome dissemination in the Central Arctic |
| title_short | Surface microlayer-mediated virome dissemination in the Central Arctic |
| title_sort | surface microlayer mediated virome dissemination in the central arctic |
| topic | Surface microlayer Polar Phage Lysogeny Melt pond Metagenomics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-024-01902-0 |
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