Uncovering novel RNA viruses in permafrost
Arctic soils (including permafrost) contain an untapped reservoir of microbial life, including viruses, that are trapped in a frozen state of low metabolic activity. However, as permafrost thaws, they can be revived and pose potential risks to human health and ecosystem stability. The current COVID-...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Language: | unknown |
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2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1776877 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1776877 https://doi.org/10.2172/1776877 |
| Summary: | Arctic soils (including permafrost) contain an untapped reservoir of microbial life, including viruses, that are trapped in a frozen state of low metabolic activity. However, as permafrost thaws, they can be revived and pose potential risks to human health and ecosystem stability. The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgency of identifying potential pathogen reservoirs which may be activated under the impacts of climate change, as well as understanding the role of RNA viruses in dynamic environments. Here, we applied a new computational workflow (Wu et al. submitted) to identify and analyze RNA viruses from de-novo assemblies representing a total of 33 metatranscriptomes collected from four parallel transects across a range of fluctuating environmental gradients. This study provides the first characterization of RNA viral diversity within a permafrost ecosystem. |
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