title: A novel sister clade to the enterobacteria microviruses (family Microviridae) identified in methane seep sediments.
abstract: Methane seep microbial communities perform a key ecosystem service by consuming the greenhouse gas methane prior to its release into the hydrosphere, minimizing the impact of marine methane sources on our climate. Although previous studies have examined the ecology and biochemistry of these communities, none has examined viral assemblages associated with these habitats. We employed virus particle purification, genome amplification, pyrosequencing and gene/genome reconstruction and annotation on two metagenomic libraries, one prepared for ssDNA and the other for all DNA, to identify the viral community in a methane seep. Similarity analysis of these libraries (raw and assembled) revealed a community dominated by phages, with a significant proportion of similarities to the Microviridae family of ssDNA phages. We define these viruses as the Eel River Basin Microviridae (ERBM). Assembly and comparison of 21 ERBM closed circular genomes identified five as members of a novel sister clade to the Microvirus genus of Enterobacteria phages. Comparisons among other metagenomes and these Microviridae major-capsid sequences indicated that this clade of phages is currently unique to the Eel River Basin sediments. Given this ERBM clade's relationship to the Microviridae genus Microvirus, we define this sister clade as the candidate genus Pequeñovirus.
authors: Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, 454 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
authors: Samuel Joseph
authors: SJ
authors: Bryson
authors: College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 454 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
authors: Andrew R
authors: AR
authors: Thurber
authors: Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, 454 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.|Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX, 77005, USA.
authors: Adrienne M S
authors: AM
authors: Correa
authors: Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
authors: Victoria J
authors: VJ
authors: Orphan
authors: Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, 454 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Vega Thurber
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000821:virology*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology*; D054892:Metagenome; D056186:Metagenomics; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D017914:Microviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D008697:Methane