Cross-biome soil viruses as an important reservoir of virulence genes

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 442; p. 130111
• Main Authors: Bi, Li, Han, Li-Li, Du, Shuai, Yu, Dan-Ting, He, Ji-Zheng, Zhang, Li-Mei, Hu, Hang-Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.01.2023
• Subjects: Bacterial pathogenicity; Biomes; forests; genes; grasslands; metagenomics; pathogenesis; risk; soil; Soil viruses; virulence; Virulence genes; Virus-host linkages; Biomes; Virus-host linkages; Virulence genes; Soil viruses; Bacterial pathogenicity
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130111

Viruses can significantly influence the composition and functions of their host communities and enhance host pathogenicity via the transport of virus-encoded virulence genes. However, the contribution of viral communities to the dissemination of virulence genes across various biomes across a large scale is largely unknown. Here, we constructed 29,283 soil viral contigs (SVCs) from viral size fraction metagenomes and public databases. A total of 1310 virulence genes were identified from 1164 SVCs in a wide variety of soil biomes, including grassland, agricultural and forest soils. The virulence gene gmd was the most abundant one, followed by csrA, evpJ, and pblA. A great proportion of viruses encoding virulence genes were uncharacterized. Virus-host linkage analysis revealed that most viruses were linked to only one bacterial genus, whereas several SVCs were associated with more than one bacterial genus and even two bacterial phyla, suggesting the potential risk of spreading virulence genes across different bacterial communities via viruses. Altogether, we provided new evidence for the prevalence of virulence genes in soil viruses across biomes, which advanced our understanding of the potential role of soil viruses in driving the pathogenesis of their hosts in terrestrial ecosystems. [Display omitted] •Abundant virulence genes were identified from soil viral metagenomes at a global scale.•Viruses from a highly diverse variety of soil biomes encoded virulence genes.•The virulence gene gmd encoded by soil viruses was the most abundant.•Soil viruses potentially contribute to transfer of virulence genes among different bacterial hosts.