Viruses Ubiquity and Diversity in Atacama Desert Endolithic Communities.

ABSTRACT: Viruses are key players in the environment, and recent metagenomic studies have revealed their diversity and genetic complexity. Despite progress in understanding the ecology of viruses in extreme environments, viruses' dynamics and functional roles in dryland ecosystems, which cover about 45% of the Earth's land surfaces, remain largely unexplored. This study characterizes virus sequences in the metagenomes of endolithic (within rock) microbial communities ubiquitously found in hyper-arid deserts. Taxonomic classification and network construction revealed the presence of novel and diverse viruses in communities inhabiting calcite, gypsum, and ignimbrite rocks. Viral genome maps show a high level of protein diversity within and across endolithic communities and the presence of virus-encode

SUBMITTER: Busse L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9500819 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature