Diversity of Active Viral Infections within the Sphagnum Microbiome.

ABSTRACT: Sphagnum-dominated peatlands play an important role in global carbon storage and represent significant sources of economic and ecological value. While recent efforts to describe microbial diversity and metabolic potential of the Sphagnum microbiome have demonstrated the importance of its microbial community, little is known about the viral constituents. We used metatranscriptomics to describe the diversity and activity of viruses infecting microbes within the Sphagnum peat bog. The vegetative portions of six Sphagnum plants were obtained from a peatland in northern Minnesota, and the total RNA was extracted and sequenced. Metatranscriptomes were assembled and contigs were screened for the presence of conserved virus marker genes. Using bacteriophage capsid prote

SUBMITTER: Stough JMA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6238052 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature