Marine Science Faculty Publications

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-8-2016

Keywords

ssDNA viruses, Viral metagenomics, Environmental virology

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2777

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Viruses strongly influence microbial population dynamics and ecosystem functions. However, our ability to quantitatively evaluate those viral impacts is limited to the few cultivated viruses and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viral genomes captured in quantitative viral metagenomes (viromes). This leaves the ecology of non-dsDNA viruses nearly unknown, including single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses that have been frequently observed in viromes, but not quantified due to amplification biases in sequencing library preparations (Multiple Displacement Amplification, Linker Amplification or Tagmentation).

METHODS: Here we designed mock viral communities including both ssDNA and dsDNA viruses to evaluate the capability of a sequencing library preparation approach including an Adaptase step prior to Linker Amplification for quantitative amplification of both dsDNA and ssDNA templates. We then surveyed aquatic samples to provide first estimates of the abundance of ssDNA viruses.

RESULTS: Mock community experiments confirmed the biased nature of existing library preparation methods for ssDNA templates (either largely enriched or selected against) and showed that the protocol using Adaptase plus Linker Amplification yielded viromes that were ±1.8-fold quantitative for ssDNA and dsDNA viruses. Application of this protocol to community virus DNA from three freshwater and three marine samples revealed that ssDNA viruses as a whole represent only a minor fraction (

DISCUSSION: Together these findings provide empirical data for a new virome library preparation protocol, and a first estimate of ssDNA virus abundance in aquatic systems.

Rights Information

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

PeerJ, v.4, art. e2777

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