title: Genomic analysis of uncultured marine viral communities.
abstract: Viruses are the most common biological entities in the oceans by an order of magnitude. However, very little is known about their diversity. Here we report a genomic analysis of two uncultured marine viral communities. Over 65% of the sequences were not significantly similar to previously reported sequences, suggesting that much of the diversity is previously uncharacterized. The most common significant hits among the known sequences were to viruses. The viral hits included sequences from all of the major families of dsDNA tailed phages, as well as some algal viruses. Several independent mathematical models based on the observed number of contigs predicted that the most abundant viral genome comprised 2-3% of the total population in both communities, which was estimated to contain between 374 and 7,114 viral types. Overall, diversity of the viral communities was extremely high. The results also showed that it would be possible to sequence the entire genome of an uncultured marine viral community.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4614, USA.
authors.forename: Mya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Breitbart
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salamon
authors.forename: Bjarne
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Andresen
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mahaffy
authors.forename: Anca M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Segall
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mead
authors.forename: Farooq
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Azam
authors.forename: Forest
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rohwer
mesh_terms: D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004279:DNA, Viral; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017862:Phycodnaviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D012623:Seawater / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral