Preservation of viral genomes in 700-y-old caribou feces from a subarctic ice patch
Viruses preserved in ancient materials provide snapshots of past viral diversity and a means to trace viral evolution through time. Here, we use a metagenomics approach to identify filterable and nuclease-resistant nucleic acids preserved in 700-y-old caribou feces frozen in a permanent ice patch. W...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt4f61h7pr 2023-09-05T13:17:35+02:00 Preservation of viral genomes in 700-y-old caribou feces from a subarctic ice patch Ng, Terry Fei Fan Chen, Li-Fang Zhou, Yanchen Shapiro, Beth Stiller, Mathias Heintzman, Peter D Varsani, Arvind Kondov, Nikola O Wong, Walt Deng, Xutao Andrews, Thomas D Moorman, Brian J Meulendyk, Thomas MacKay, Glen Gilbertson, Robert L Delwart, Eric 16842 - 16847 2014-11-25 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4f61h7pr unknown eScholarship, University of California qt4f61h7pr https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4f61h7pr public Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol 111, iss 47 Infectious Diseases Genetics Infection Life on Land Animals Arctic Regions Feces Genome Viral Molecular Sequence Data Reindeer metagenomics reverse genetics ancient virus paleopathology aDNA article 2014 ftcdlib 2023-08-21T18:05:09Z Viruses preserved in ancient materials provide snapshots of past viral diversity and a means to trace viral evolution through time. Here, we use a metagenomics approach to identify filterable and nuclease-resistant nucleic acids preserved in 700-y-old caribou feces frozen in a permanent ice patch. We were able to recover and characterize two viruses in replicated experiments performed in two different laboratories: a small circular DNA viral genome (ancient caribou feces associated virus, or aCFV) and a partial RNA viral genome (Ancient Northwest Territories cripavirus, or aNCV). Phylogenetic analysis identifies aCFV as distantly related to the plant-infecting geminiviruses and the fungi-infecting Sclerotinia sclerotiorum hypovirulence-associated DNA virus 1 and aNCV as within the insect-infecting Cripavirus genus. We hypothesize that these viruses originate from plant material ingested by caribou or from flying insects and that their preservation can be attributed to protection within viral capsids maintained at cold temperatures. To investigate the tropism of aCFV, we used the geminiviral reverse genetic system and introduced a multimeric clone into the laboratory model plant Nicotiana benthamiana. Evidence for infectivity came from the detection of viral DNA in newly emerged leaves and the precise excision of the viral genome from the multimeric clones in inoculated leaves. Our findings indicate that viral genomes may in some circumstances be protected from degradation for centuries. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Northwest Territories Subarctic University of California: eScholarship Arctic Northwest Territories |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Infectious Diseases Genetics Infection Life on Land Animals Arctic Regions Feces Genome Viral Molecular Sequence Data Reindeer metagenomics reverse genetics ancient virus paleopathology aDNA |
spellingShingle |
Infectious Diseases Genetics Infection Life on Land Animals Arctic Regions Feces Genome Viral Molecular Sequence Data Reindeer metagenomics reverse genetics ancient virus paleopathology aDNA Ng, Terry Fei Fan Chen, Li-Fang Zhou, Yanchen Shapiro, Beth Stiller, Mathias Heintzman, Peter D Varsani, Arvind Kondov, Nikola O Wong, Walt Deng, Xutao Andrews, Thomas D Moorman, Brian J Meulendyk, Thomas MacKay, Glen Gilbertson, Robert L Delwart, Eric Preservation of viral genomes in 700-y-old caribou feces from a subarctic ice patch |
topic_facet |
Infectious Diseases Genetics Infection Life on Land Animals Arctic Regions Feces Genome Viral Molecular Sequence Data Reindeer metagenomics reverse genetics ancient virus paleopathology aDNA |
description |
Viruses preserved in ancient materials provide snapshots of past viral diversity and a means to trace viral evolution through time. Here, we use a metagenomics approach to identify filterable and nuclease-resistant nucleic acids preserved in 700-y-old caribou feces frozen in a permanent ice patch. We were able to recover and characterize two viruses in replicated experiments performed in two different laboratories: a small circular DNA viral genome (ancient caribou feces associated virus, or aCFV) and a partial RNA viral genome (Ancient Northwest Territories cripavirus, or aNCV). Phylogenetic analysis identifies aCFV as distantly related to the plant-infecting geminiviruses and the fungi-infecting Sclerotinia sclerotiorum hypovirulence-associated DNA virus 1 and aNCV as within the insect-infecting Cripavirus genus. We hypothesize that these viruses originate from plant material ingested by caribou or from flying insects and that their preservation can be attributed to protection within viral capsids maintained at cold temperatures. To investigate the tropism of aCFV, we used the geminiviral reverse genetic system and introduced a multimeric clone into the laboratory model plant Nicotiana benthamiana. Evidence for infectivity came from the detection of viral DNA in newly emerged leaves and the precise excision of the viral genome from the multimeric clones in inoculated leaves. Our findings indicate that viral genomes may in some circumstances be protected from degradation for centuries. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ng, Terry Fei Fan Chen, Li-Fang Zhou, Yanchen Shapiro, Beth Stiller, Mathias Heintzman, Peter D Varsani, Arvind Kondov, Nikola O Wong, Walt Deng, Xutao Andrews, Thomas D Moorman, Brian J Meulendyk, Thomas MacKay, Glen Gilbertson, Robert L Delwart, Eric |
author_facet |
Ng, Terry Fei Fan Chen, Li-Fang Zhou, Yanchen Shapiro, Beth Stiller, Mathias Heintzman, Peter D Varsani, Arvind Kondov, Nikola O Wong, Walt Deng, Xutao Andrews, Thomas D Moorman, Brian J Meulendyk, Thomas MacKay, Glen Gilbertson, Robert L Delwart, Eric |
author_sort |
Ng, Terry Fei Fan |
title |
Preservation of viral genomes in 700-y-old caribou feces from a subarctic ice patch |
title_short |
Preservation of viral genomes in 700-y-old caribou feces from a subarctic ice patch |
title_full |
Preservation of viral genomes in 700-y-old caribou feces from a subarctic ice patch |
title_fullStr |
Preservation of viral genomes in 700-y-old caribou feces from a subarctic ice patch |
title_full_unstemmed |
Preservation of viral genomes in 700-y-old caribou feces from a subarctic ice patch |
title_sort |
preservation of viral genomes in 700-y-old caribou feces from a subarctic ice patch |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4f61h7pr |
op_coverage |
16842 - 16847 |
geographic |
Arctic Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Northwest Territories |
genre |
Arctic Northwest Territories Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Northwest Territories Subarctic |
op_source |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol 111, iss 47 |
op_relation |
qt4f61h7pr https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4f61h7pr |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1776198702467121152 |