Abstract
Background Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, are the most abundant biological entities on our planet, and their nucleic acids constitute a substantial proportion of total DNA in Earth’s ecosystems [1,2]. While the advent of metagenomic methods has allowed the rapid and efficient investigation of microbial and viral communities [3-5], there has not been a comprehensive comparative analysis of phage genes and genomes present in all sequenced ecosystems [6,7]. To examine the abundance and distribution of phage genes in environmental metagenomic sequences, we developed a web-based tool, Phage Eco-Locator [http://www.phantome.org/eco-locator] that screens all publicly available sequenced metagenomes for a user-defined phage genome, or all phage genomes within a user-selected metagenomic sample.
Highlights
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, are the most abundant biological entities on our planet, and their nucleic acids constitute a substantial proportion of total DNA in Earth’s ecosystems [1,2]
The graphical output was translated into metrics representing phage abundance, extent and breadth of distribution, and coverage density and evenness
Applying these metrics to all samples demonstrated a pervasive, yet uneven, distribution of phage genes in metagenomic libraries and allowed the separation of phage genomes into distinct groups
Summary
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, are the most abundant biological entities on our planet, and their nucleic acids constitute a substantial proportion of total DNA in Earth’s ecosystems [1,2]. While the advent of metagenomic methods has allowed the rapid and efficient investigation of microbial and viral communities [3,4,5], there has not been a comprehensive comparative analysis of phage genes and genomes present in all sequenced ecosystems [6,7]. To examine the abundance and distribution of phage genes in environmental metagenomic sequences, we developed a web-based tool, Phage Eco-Locator [http://www.phantome.org/eco-locator] that screens all publicly available sequenced metagenomes for a user-defined phage genome, or all phage genomes within a user-selected metagenomic sample
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
