Bacterial and Archaeal Viruses of Himalayan Hot Springs at Manikaran Modulate Host Genomes.

ABSTRACT: Hot spring-associated viruses, particularly the archaeal viruses, remain under-examined compared to bacteriophages. Previous metagenomic studies of the Manikaran hot springs in India suggested an abundance of viral DNA, which prompted us to examine the virus-host (bacterial and archaeal) interactions in sediment and microbial mat samples collected from the thermal discharges. Here, we characterize the viruses (both bacterial and archaeal) from this Himalayan hot spring using both metagenomics assembly and electron microscopy. We utilized four shotgun samples from sediment (78-98°C) and two from microbial mats (50°C) to reconstruct 65 bacteriophage genomes (24-200 kb). We also identified 59 archaeal viruses that were notably abundant across the sediment samples. Whole-genome analyses of the

SUBMITTER: Sharma A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6302217 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature