Organochlorine contamination enriches virus-encoded metabolism and pesticide degradation associated auxiliary genes in soil microbiomes.

ABSTRACT: Viruses significantly influence local and global biogeochemical cycles and help bacteria to survive in different environments by encoding various auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) associated with energy acquisition, stress tolerance and degradation of xenobiotics. Here we studied whether bacterial (dsDNA) virus encoded AMGs are enriched in organochlorine pesticide (OCP) contaminated soil in China and if viral AMGs include genes linked to OCP biodegradation. Using metagenomics, we found that OCP-contaminated soils displayed a lower bacterial, but higher diversity of viruses that harbored a higher relative abundance of AMGs linked to pesticide degradation and metabolism. Furthermore, the diversity and relative abundance of AMGs significantly increased along with the severity of pesticide cont

SUBMITTER: Zheng X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9038774 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature