ArticleMicrobiome2017
Environmental drivers of viral community composition in Antarctic soils identified by viromics.
Article in Microbiome, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 161 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Exploring the ecological drivers of bacteriophage diversity and functional viral potential in the skin of the axolotl Ambystoma altamirani.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- Widespread horizontal transfer and strong selection enhance microbial adaptation in Antarctic soils.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Giant viruses of the polar regions: diversity, endemism, adaptation and ecological structuring.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Review
- Genomic and experimental characterization of unique Antarctic temperate phage Perkons reveals multiple integrases and complex lysogenic dynamics in Psychrobacillus sp. L4.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Host community activity, but not always composition, explains viral biogeography in bulk and rhizosphere soils over a tomato growing season.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Spatial and depth structuring predominate over temporal variation in Mediterranean climate grassland soil viral communities.ISME communications · 2026Article
- Evidence for Trace Gas Metabolism and Widespread Antibiotic Synthesis in an Abiotically Driven, Antarctic Soil Ecosystem.Environmental microbiology reports · 2025Article
- Viral Diversity in Polar Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils: A Transect Study from King George Island, Antarctica.Food and environmental virology · 2025Article
- Host-virus coevolution drives soil microbial function succession along a millennium land reclamation chronosequence.Journal of advanced research · 2025Article
- Novel adaptive immune systems in pristine Antarctic soils.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Temporal transcriptomics uncover dynamic interactions between pathogenicFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Bacterial community composition and function in different habitats in Antarctic Fildes region revealed by high-throughput sequencing.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Soil viruses drive carbon turnover during subtropical secondary forest succession.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Short-term virus-host interactions and functional dynamics in recently deglaciated Antarctic tundra soils.ISME communications · 2025Article
- Viral metagenomic analysis of fecal samples fromFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Adaptive expression of phage auxiliary metabolic genes in paddy soils and their contribution toward global carbon sequestration.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Targeted viromes and total metagenomes capture distinct components of bee gut phage communities.Microbiome · 2024Article
- Viral communities in a pH>10 serpentinite-like environment: insight into diversity and potential roles in modulating the microbiomes by bioactive vitamin BApplied and environmental microbiology · 2024Article
- Global diversity and ecological functions of viruses inhabiting oil reservoirs.Nature communications · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe Antarctic continent is considered the coldest and driest place on earth with simple ecosystems, devoid of higher plants. Soils in the ice-free regions of Antarctica are known to harbor a wide range of microorganisms from primary producers to grazers, yet their ecology and particularly the role of viruses is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the virus community structures of 14 soil samples from the Mackay Glacier region.
methodsViral communities were extracted from soil and the dsDNA was extracted, amplified using single-primer amplification, and sequenced using the Ion Torrent Proton platform. Metadata on soil physico-chemistry was collected from all sites. Both read and contig datasets were analyzed with reference-independent and reference-dependent methods to assess viral community structures and the influence of environmental parameters on their distribution.
resultsWe observed a high heterogeneity in virus signatures, independent of geographical proximity. Tailed bacteriophages were dominant in all samples, but the incidences of the affiliated families Siphoviridae and Myoviridae were inversely correlated, suggesting direct competition for hosts. Viruses of the families Phycodnaviridae and Mimiviridae were present at significant levels in high-diversity soil samples and were found to co-occur, implying little competition between them. Combinations of soil factors, including pH, calcium content, and site altitude, were found to be the main drivers of viral community structure.
conclusionsThe pattern of viral community structure with higher levels of diversity at lower altitude and pH, and co-occurring viral families, suggests that these cold desert soil viruses interact with each other, the host, and the environment in an intricate manner, playing a potentially crucial role in maintaining host diversity and functioning of the microbial ecosystem in the extreme environments of Antarctic soil.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.