Abstract
BackgroundThe Antarctic continent is considered the coldest and driest place on earth with simple ecosystems, devoid of higher plants. Soils in the ice-free regions of Antarctica are known to harbor a wide range of microorganisms from primary producers to grazers, yet their ecology and particularly the role of viruses is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the virus community structures of 14 soil samples from the Mackay Glacier region.MethodsViral communities were extracted from soil and the dsDNA was extracted, amplified using single-primer amplification, and sequenced using the Ion Torrent Proton platform. Metadata on soil physico-chemistry was collected from all sites. Both read and contig datasets were analyzed with reference-independent and reference-dependent methods to assess viral community structures and the influence of environmental parameters on their distribution.ResultsWe observed a high heterogeneity in virus signatures, independent of geographical proximity. Tailed bacteriophages were dominant in all samples, but the incidences of the affiliated families Siphoviridae and Myoviridae were inversely correlated, suggesting direct competition for hosts. Viruses of the families Phycodnaviridae and Mimiviridae were present at significant levels in high-diversity soil samples and were found to co-occur, implying little competition between them. Combinations of soil factors, including pH, calcium content, and site altitude, were found to be the main drivers of viral community structure.ConclusionsThe pattern of viral community structure with higher levels of diversity at lower altitude and pH, and co-occurring viral families, suggests that these cold desert soil viruses interact with each other, the host, and the environment in an intricate manner, playing a potentially crucial role in maintaining host diversity and functioning of the microbial ecosystem in the extreme environments of Antarctic soil.
Highlights
The Antarctic continent is considered the coldest and driest place on earth with simple ecosystems, devoid of higher plants
We investigated the double-stranded DNA viral communities from 14 soils sampled from ice-free areas in the Mackay Glacier region, Eastern Antarctica
One cluster was composed of samples F1, MS1, MTG, MTG22, Mount Seuss (MS4), and Spalding Pond (SP)
Summary
The Antarctic continent is considered the coldest and driest place on earth with simple ecosystems, devoid of higher plants. The Mackay Glacier, Ross Dependency, is a major glacial flow in Eastern Antarctica and is found to the north of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, which collectively comprise 15% of the ice-free regions on the continent. This environment is classified as a cold hyperarid desert with mineral-based permafrost soils which are largely devoid in organic matter [2, 3]. Ecosystems of cold deserts are considered simple in comparison with hot deserts due to the absence of higher plants and their large dependency on microorganisms [4].
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