title: Biodiversity and biogeography of phages in modern stromatolites and thrombolites.
abstract: Viruses, and more particularly phages (viruses that infect bacteria), represent one of the most abundant living entities in aquatic and terrestrial environments. The biogeography of phages has only recently been investigated and so far reveals a cosmopolitan distribution of phage genetic material (or genotypes). Here we address this cosmopolitan distribution through the analysis of phage communities in modern microbialites, the living representatives of one of the most ancient life forms on Earth. On the basis of a comparative metagenomic analysis of viral communities associated with marine (Highborne Cay, Bahamas) and freshwater (Pozas Azules II and Rio Mesquites, Mexico) microbialites, we show that some phage genotypes are geographically restricted. The high percentage of unknown sequences recovered from the three metagenomes (>97%), the low percentage similarities with sequences from other environmental viral (n = 42) and microbial (n = 36) metagenomes, and the absence of viral genotypes shared among microbialites indicate that viruses are genetically unique in these environments. Identifiable sequences in the Highborne Cay metagenome were dominated by single-stranded DNA microphages that were not detected in any other samples examined, including sea water, fresh water, sediment, terrestrial, extreme, metazoan-associated and marine microbial mats. Finally, a marine signature was present in the phage community of the Pozas Azules II microbialites, even though this environment has not been in contact with the ocean for tens of millions of years. Taken together, these results prove that viruses in modern microbialites display biogeographical variability and suggest that they may be derived from an ancient community.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182, USA. cdesnues@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Desnues
authors.forename: Beltran
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Brito
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rayhawk
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: Tuong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haynes
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furlan
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wegley
authors.forename: Betty
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chau
authors.forename: Yijun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Florent E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Angly
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Rebecca Vega
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Thurber
authors.forename: R Pamela
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siefert
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Valentine
authors.forename: Brandon K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Swan
authors.forename: Mya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Breitbart
authors.forename: Forest
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rohwer
mesh_terms: D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D001444:Bahamas; D044822:Biodiversity; D002213:Capsid / Q000737:chemistry; D019295:Computational Biology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics; D005843:Geography; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D008800:Mexico; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D020543:Proteome / Q000378:metabolism; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D020543:Proteome