The Viral Fraction Metatranscriptomes of Lake Baikal

• Published in: Microorganisms
• Main Authors: Sergey Potapov, Andrey Krasnopeev, Irina Tikhonova, Galina Podlesnaya, Anna Gorshkova, Olga Belykh
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: metatranscriptome; viral fraction; Lake Baikal; RNA and DNA viruses; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; permafrost; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10101937; https://doaj.org/article/0a0b288011254ef18e003d5359b123f2

This article characterises viral fraction metatranscriptomes (smaller than 0.2 µm) from the pelagic zone of oligotrophic Lake Baikal (Russia). The study revealed the dominance of transcripts of DNA viruses: bacteriophages and algal viruses. We identified transcripts similar to Pithovirus sibericum , a nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (NCLDV) isolated from the permafrost region of Eastern Siberia. Among the families detected were RNA viruses assigned to Retroviridae, Metaviridae, Potyviridae, Astroviridae, and Closteroviridae. Using the PHROG, SEED subsystems databases, and the VOGDB, we indicated that the bulk of transcripts belong to the functional replication of viruses. In a comparative unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) analysis, the transcripts from Lake Baikal formed a separate cluster included in the clade with transcripts from other freshwater lakes, as well as marine and oceanic waters, while there was no separation based on the trophic state of the water bodies, the size of the plankton fraction, or salinity.