Patterns and ecological drivers of ocean viral communities

Jennifer Brum (1) , J Cesar Ignacio-Espinoza (1) , Simon Roux (1) , Guilhem Doulcier (2, 1) , Silvia G. Acinas (3) , Adriana A. Alberti (4, 5) , Samuel Chaffron (6) , Corinne Cruaud (5) , Colomban de Vargas (7) , Josep Gasol , Gabriel Gorsky (8) , Ann Gregory , Lionel Guidi (9) , Pascal Hingamp (10) , Daniele Iudicone (11) , Fabrice Not (12) , Hiroyuki Ogata (10) , Stéphane Pesant (13) , Bonnie Poulos , Sarah Schwenck , Sabrina Speich (14) , Céline Dimier (15) , Stefanie Kandels-Lewis (16) , Marc Picheral (8) , Sarah Searson (8) , Peer Bork (17) , Chris Bowler (2) , Shinichi Sunagawa (17) , Patrick Wincker (18, 5) , Eric Karsenti (16) , Matthew Sullivan (19) , C. Ignacio-Espinoza , M. Gasol , C. Gregory , M. Schwenck

1 EEB - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology [Tucson]
2 IBENS - Institut de biologie de l'ENS Paris
3 ICM - Institute of Marine Sciences / Institut de Ciències del Mar [Barcelona]
4 CNS
5 GENOSCOPE - Genoscope - Centre national de séquençage [Evry]
6 VUB - Vrije Universiteit Brussel [Bruxelles]
7 EPEP - Evolution des Protistes et Ecosystèmes Pélagiques
8 LOV - Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche
9 Department of Oceanography
10 IGS - Information génomique et structurale
11 SZN - Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
12 DIPO - Diversité et Interactions au sein du Plancton Océanique
13 MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences [Bremen]
14 LPO - Laboratoire de physique des océans
15 AD2M - Adaptation et diversité en milieu marin
16 EMBL - European Molecular Biology Laboratory [Heidelberg]
17 European Molecular Biology Laboratory
18 Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique
19 University of Arizona

Viruses influence ecosystems by modulating microbial population size, diversity, metabolic outputs, and gene flow. Here, we use quantitative double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viral-fraction metagenomes (viromes) and whole viral community morphological data sets from 43 Tara Oceans expedition samples to assess viral community patterns and structure in the upper ocean. Protein cluster cataloging defined pelagic upper-ocean viral community pan and core gene sets and suggested that this sequence space is well-sampled. Analyses of viral protein clusters, populations, and morphology revealed biogeographic patterns whereby viral communities were passively transported on oceanic currents and locally structured by environmental conditions that affect host community structure. Together, these investigations establish a global ocean dsDNA viromic data set with analyses supporting the seed-bank hypothesis to explain how oceanic viral communities maintain high local diversity.

Domains: Biodiversity and Ecology; Virology

Jennifer Brum, J Cesar Ignacio-Espinoza, Simon Roux, Guilhem Doulcier, Silvia G. Acinas, et al.. Patterns and ecological drivers of ocean viral communities. Science, 2015, 348 (6237), pp.1261498. ⟨10.1126/science.1261498⟩. ⟨hal-01768331⟩