Arctic Ocean virus communities and their seasonality, bipolarity, and prokaryotic associations
Abstract Viruses of microbes play important roles in ocean environments as agents of mortality and genetic transfer, influencing ecology, evolution and biogeochemistry. However, we know little about the diversity, seasonality, and host interactions of viruses in polar waters. Here, we study dsDNA vi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61568-6 |
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| author | Alyzza M. Calayag Taylor Priest Ellen Oldenburg Jan Muschiol Ovidiu Popa Matthias Wietz David M. Needham |
| author_facet | Alyzza M. Calayag Taylor Priest Ellen Oldenburg Jan Muschiol Ovidiu Popa Matthias Wietz David M. Needham |
| author_sort | Alyzza M. Calayag |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Viruses of microbes play important roles in ocean environments as agents of mortality and genetic transfer, influencing ecology, evolution and biogeochemistry. However, we know little about the diversity, seasonality, and host interactions of viruses in polar waters. Here, we study dsDNA viruses in the Arctic Fram Strait across four years via 47 long-read metagenomes of the cellular size-fraction. Among 5662 vOTUs, 98% and 2% are Caudoviricetes and Megaviricetes, respectively. Viral coverage is, on average, 5-fold higher than cellular coverage, and 8-fold higher in summer. Viral community composition shows annual peaks in similarity and strongly correlates with prokaryotic community composition. Using network analysis, we identify putative virus-host interactions and six ecological modules associated with distinct environmental conditions. The network reveals putative novel cyanophages with time-lagged correlations to their hosts (in late summer) as well as diverse viruses correlated with Flavobacteriaceae, Pelagibacteraceae, and Nitrosopumilaceae. Via global metagenomes, we find that 42% of Fram Strait vOTUs peak in abundance in high latitude regions of both hemispheres, and encode proteins with biochemical signatures of cold adaptation. Our study reveals a rich diversity of polar viruses with pronounced seasonality, providing a foundation for understanding viral regulation and ecosystem impacts in changing polar oceans. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-438ebb402ab3498bb04084faadfcc167 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-438ebb402ab3498bb04084faadfcc1672025-08-20T03:46:17ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-0116111510.1038/s41467-025-61568-6Arctic Ocean virus communities and their seasonality, bipolarity, and prokaryotic associationsAlyzza M. Calayag0Taylor Priest1Ellen Oldenburg2Jan Muschiol3Ovidiu Popa4Matthias Wietz5David M. Needham6GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research KielInstitute of Microbiology, ETH ZurichAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine ResearchGEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research KielInstitute of Quantitative and Theoretical Biology, Heinrich Heine UniversityAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine ResearchGEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research KielAbstract Viruses of microbes play important roles in ocean environments as agents of mortality and genetic transfer, influencing ecology, evolution and biogeochemistry. However, we know little about the diversity, seasonality, and host interactions of viruses in polar waters. Here, we study dsDNA viruses in the Arctic Fram Strait across four years via 47 long-read metagenomes of the cellular size-fraction. Among 5662 vOTUs, 98% and 2% are Caudoviricetes and Megaviricetes, respectively. Viral coverage is, on average, 5-fold higher than cellular coverage, and 8-fold higher in summer. Viral community composition shows annual peaks in similarity and strongly correlates with prokaryotic community composition. Using network analysis, we identify putative virus-host interactions and six ecological modules associated with distinct environmental conditions. The network reveals putative novel cyanophages with time-lagged correlations to their hosts (in late summer) as well as diverse viruses correlated with Flavobacteriaceae, Pelagibacteraceae, and Nitrosopumilaceae. Via global metagenomes, we find that 42% of Fram Strait vOTUs peak in abundance in high latitude regions of both hemispheres, and encode proteins with biochemical signatures of cold adaptation. Our study reveals a rich diversity of polar viruses with pronounced seasonality, providing a foundation for understanding viral regulation and ecosystem impacts in changing polar oceans.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61568-6 |
| spellingShingle | Alyzza M. Calayag Taylor Priest Ellen Oldenburg Jan Muschiol Ovidiu Popa Matthias Wietz David M. Needham Arctic Ocean virus communities and their seasonality, bipolarity, and prokaryotic associations Nature Communications |
| title | Arctic Ocean virus communities and their seasonality, bipolarity, and prokaryotic associations |
| title_full | Arctic Ocean virus communities and their seasonality, bipolarity, and prokaryotic associations |
| title_fullStr | Arctic Ocean virus communities and their seasonality, bipolarity, and prokaryotic associations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Arctic Ocean virus communities and their seasonality, bipolarity, and prokaryotic associations |
| title_short | Arctic Ocean virus communities and their seasonality, bipolarity, and prokaryotic associations |
| title_sort | arctic ocean virus communities and their seasonality bipolarity and prokaryotic associations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61568-6 |
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