Abstract
Despite a surge of RNA virome sequencing in recent years, there are still many RNA viruses to uncover—as indicated by the relevance of viral dark matter to RNA virome studies (i.e., putative viruses that do not match to taxonomically identified viruses). This study explores a unique site, a high-rate algal pond (HRAP), for culturing industrially microalgae, to elucidate new RNA viruses. The importance of viral-host interactions in aquatic systems are well documented, and the ever-expanding microalgae industry is no exception. As the industry becomes a more important source of sustainable plastic manufacturing, a producer of cosmetic pigments and alternative protein sources, and a means of CO2 remediation in the face of climate change, studying microalgal viruses becomes a vital practice for proactive management of microalgae cultures at the industrial level. This study provides evidence of RNA microalgal viruses persisting in a CO2 remediation pilot project HRAP and uncovers the diversity of the RNA virosphere contained within it. Evidence shows that family Marnaviridae is cultured in the basin, alongside other potential microalgal infecting viruses (e.g., family Narnaviridae, family Totitiviridae, and family Yueviridae). Finally, we demonstrate that the RNA viral diversity of the HRAP is temporally dynamic across two successive culturing seasons.
Highlights
Published: 26 October 2021RNA viruses persist in a range of environments from soils [1] to seas [2,3], from the Arctic [4] to Antarctic [5], and lake waters [6,7]
In this study we have identified several putative RNA viruses alongside evidence to suggest that they could be infecting microalgae, in the case of Marnaviridae, which has been uncovered through putative taxonomic classification, a phylogenetic study, and tracked in the high-rate algal pond (HRAP) using room temperature (RT)-qPCR
We cannot conclude that RNA viruses are alone responsible for the die-offs experienced in the HRAP considering we did not investigate other factors (e.g., Rotifera grazers mentioned above, algalcidal bacteria, other viruses not targeted in our study laboratory methods), we have provided evidence of viruses likely infecting the microalgae being cultured in the HRAP
Summary
Published: 26 October 2021RNA viruses persist in a range of environments from soils [1] to seas [2,3], from the Arctic [4] to Antarctic [5], and lake waters [6,7]. Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) [9] This growing number of metagenomic studies benefits from the increasing sequencing depths of new technologies, alongside new bioinformatic tools that are better equipped for assembling RNA viruses, including viral populations from already publicly available metagenomic datasets and studies [9]. Along with their considerable geographical range (i.e., ubiquity), RNA viruses infect a wide range of hosts including plants [10], vertebrates [11,12], invertebrates [13,14], fungi [15], Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
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