Expansion of the global RNA virome reveals diverse clades of bacteriophages

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-13-2022

Publication Title

Cell

Volume

185

Issue

21

First Page

4023

Keywords

Bactriophage, Functional protein annotation, Metatranscriptomics, RNA dependent RNA polymerase, RNA Virus, Viral Ecology, viral phylogeny, Virus, Virus - Host prediction

Last Page

4037.e18

Abstract

High-throughput RNA sequencing offers broad opportunities to explore the Earth RNA virome. Mining 5,150 diverse metatranscriptomes uncovered >2.5 million RNA virus contigs. Analysis of >330,000 RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs) shows that this expansion corresponds to a 5-fold increase of the known RNA virus diversity. Gene content analysis revealed multiple protein domains previously not found in RNA viruses and implicated in virus-host interactions. Extended RdRP phylogeny supports the monophyly of the five established phyla and reveals two putative additional bacteriophage phyla and numerous putative additional classes and orders. The dramatically expanded phylum Lenarviricota, consisting of bacterial and related eukaryotic viruses, now accounts for a third of the RNA virome. Identification of CRISPR spacer matches and bacteriolytic proteins suggests that subsets of picobirnaviruses and partitiviruses, previously associated with eukaryotes, infect prokaryotic hosts.

DOI

10.1016/j.cell.2022.08.023

ISSN

00928674

E-ISSN

10974172

PubMed ID

36174579

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