Marine Viruses

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities in the ocean, and they are present in virtually all marine environments (e.g., hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, oceanic trenchs, and sub-seafloor sediments). In the last few decades, great advances have been made regarding viral diversities, virus–host interactions, and viral ecology in both culturable marine virus–host systems and natural marine environments. This Topics project aims to act as a platform for publishing original research and reviews exploring marine viruses on multiple levels—from viral diversities, and virus–host interactions to viral ecology. We welcome submissions that include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Isolation and characterization of novel marine viruses
• Study of marine viral diversities using virome or metagenomics
• Virus–host interactions in culturable models or natural marine environments
• Marine viral ecology
• Bioresources from marine viruses (e.g., phage therapy, virus-derived enzymes and molecules)

Prof. Dr. Min Jin
Prof. Dr. Xiaobo Zhang
Prof. Dr. Rui Zhang
Prof. Dr. Claire Geslin
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Biomolecules biomolecules	4.8	9.4	2011	18.4 Days	CHF 2700
BioTech biotech	2.7	3.7	2012	26.1 Days	CHF 1600
Marine Drugs marinedrugs	4.9	9.6	2003	13.7 Days	CHF 2900
Microorganisms microorganisms	4.1	7.4	2013	11.7 Days	CHF 2700
Viruses viruses	3.8	7.3	2009	17.1 Days	CHF 2600

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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All Biomolecules BioTech Marine Drugs Microorganisms Viruses

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14 pages, 3424 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Ecological Interaction between Bacteriophages and Bacteria in Sub-Arctic Kongsfjorden Bay, Svalbard, Norway

by Kang Eun Kim, Hyoung Min Joo, Yu Jin Kim, Donhyug Kang, Taek-Kyun Lee, Seung Won Jung and Sun-Yong Ha

Microorganisms 2024, 12(2), 276; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12020276 - 28 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1670

Abstract

Marine virus diversity and their relationships with their hosts in the marine environment remain unclear. This study investigated the co-occurrence of marine DNA bacteriophages (phages) and bacteria in the sub-Arctic area of Kongsfjorden Bay in Svalbard (Norway) in April and June 2018 using [...] Read more.

Marine virus diversity and their relationships with their hosts in the marine environment remain unclear. This study investigated the co-occurrence of marine DNA bacteriophages (phages) and bacteria in the sub-Arctic area of Kongsfjorden Bay in Svalbard (Norway) in April and June 2018 using metagenomics tools. Of the marine viruses identified, 48–81% were bacteriophages of the families Myoviridae, Siphoviridae, and Podoviridae. Puniceispirillum phage HMO-2011 was dominant (7.61%) in April, and Puniceispirillum phage HMO-2011 (3.32%) and Pelagibacter phage HTVC008M (3.28%) were dominant in June. Gammaproteobacteria (58%), including Eionea flava (14.3%) and Pseudomonas sabulinigri (12.2%), were dominant in April, whereas Alphaproteobacteria (87%), including Sulfitobacter profundi (51.5%) and Loktanella acticola (32.4%), were dominant in June. The alpha diversity of the bacteriophages and bacterial communities exhibited opposite patterns. The diversity of the bacterial community was higher in April and lower in June. Changes in water temperature and light can influence the relationship between bacteria and bacteriophages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Marine Viruses)

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11 pages, 287 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Comparison between Sampling Techniques for Virological Molecular Analyses: Dolphin Morbillivirus and Herpesvirus Detection from FTA^® Card and Frozen Tissue

by Haiyang Si, Claudia Maria Tucciarone, Mattia Cecchinato, Matteo Legnardi, Sandro Mazzariol and Cinzia Centelleghe

Viruses 2023, 15(12), 2422; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15122422 - 13 Dec 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1861

Abstract

Stranded animals offer valuable information on marine mammal physiology and pathology; however, the decomposition state of the carcasses and lack of a rigorous cold chain for sample preservation can sometimes discourage diagnostic analyses based on nucleic acid detection. The present paper aims at [...] Read more.

Stranded animals offer valuable information on marine mammal physiology and pathology; however, the decomposition state of the carcasses and lack of a rigorous cold chain for sample preservation can sometimes discourage diagnostic analyses based on nucleic acid detection. The present paper aims at evaluating the reliability of FTA^® card tissue imprints as an alternative matrix to frozen tissues for virological analyses based on biomolecular methods. Given the contribution of Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) to strandings and the increase of herpesvirus detection in cetaceans, these two pathogens were selected as representative of RNA and DNA viruses. Dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) and herpesvirus presence was investigated in parallel on tissue imprints on FTA^® cards and frozen tissues collected during necropsy of dolphins stranded in Italy. Samples were analysed by nested RT-PCR for DMV and nested-PCR for herpesvirus. Only one animal was positive for herpesvirus, hampering further considerations on this virus. DMV was detected in all animals, both in FTA^® card imprints and tissue samples, with differences possibly related to the decomposition condition category of the carcasses. Tissue sampling on FTA^® cards seems a promising alternative to frozen tissues for biomolecular analyses, especially when ensuring adequate storage and shipment conditions for frozen tissues is difficult. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Marine Viruses)

13 pages, 7252 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Characterization and Comparative Genomic Analysis of a Deep-Sea Bacillus Phage Reveal a Novel Genus

by Yuan Chen, Tianyou Zhang, Qiliang Lai, Menghui Zhang, Meishun Yu, Runying Zeng and Min Jin

Viruses 2023, 15(9), 1919; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15091919 - 13 Sep 2023

Viewed by 1559

Abstract

As the most abundant biological entities, viruses are the major players in marine ecosystems. However, our knowledge on virus diversity and virus–host interactions in the deep sea remains very limited. In this study, vB_BteM-A9Y, a novel bacteriophage infecting Bacillus tequilensis, was isolated from [...] Read more.

As the most abundant biological entities, viruses are the major players in marine ecosystems. However, our knowledge on virus diversity and virus–host interactions in the deep sea remains very limited. In this study, vB_BteM-A9Y, a novel bacteriophage infecting Bacillus tequilensis, was isolated from deep-sea sediments in the South China Sea. vB_BteM-A9Y has a hexametric head and a long, complex contractile tail, which are typical features of myophages. vB_BteM-A9Y initiated host lysis at 60 min post infection with a burst size of 75 PFU/cell. The phage genome comprises 38,634 base pairs and encodes 54 predicted open reading frames (ORFs), of which 27 ORFs can be functionally annotated by homology analysis. Interestingly, abundant ORFs involved in DNA damage repair were identified in the phage genome, suggesting that vB_BteM-A9Y encodes multiple pathways for DNA damage repair, which may help to maintain the stability of the host/phage genome. A BLASTn search of the whole genome sequence of vB_BteM-A9Y against the GenBank revealed no existing homolog. Consistently, a phylogenomic tree and proteome-based phylogenetic tree analysis showed that vB_BteM-A9Y formed a unique branch. Further comparative analysis of genomic nucleotide similarity and ORF homology of vB_BteM-A9Y with its mostly related phages showed that the intergenomic similarity between vB_BteM-A9Y and these phages was 0–33.2%. Collectively, based on the comprehensive morphological, phylogenetic, and comparative genomic analysis, we propose that vB_BteM-A9Y belongs to a novel genus under Caudoviricetes. Therefore, our study will increase our knowledge on deep-sea virus diversity and virus–host interactions, as well as expanding our knowledge on phage taxonomy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Marine Viruses)

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23 pages, 3480 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Identification of Structural and Morphogenesis Genes of Sulfitobacter Phage ΦGT1 and Placement within the Evolutionary History of the Podoviruses

by Stephen C. Hardies, Byung Cheol Cho, Gwang Il Jang, Zhiqing Wang and Chung Yeon Hwang

Viruses 2023, 15(7), 1475; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15071475 - 29 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1630

Abstract

ΦGT1 is a lytic podovirus of an alphaproteobacterial Sulfitobacter species, with few closely matching sequences among characterized phages, thus defying a useful description by simple sequence clustering methods. The history of the ΦGT1 core structure module was reconstructed using timetrees, including numerous related [...] Read more.

ΦGT1 is a lytic podovirus of an alphaproteobacterial Sulfitobacter species, with few closely matching sequences among characterized phages, thus defying a useful description by simple sequence clustering methods. The history of the ΦGT1 core structure module was reconstructed using timetrees, including numerous related prospective prophages, to flesh out the evolutionary lineages spanning from the origin of the ejectosomal podovirus >3.2 Gya to the present genes of ΦGT1 and its closest relatives. A peculiarity of the ΦGT1 structural proteome is that it contains two paralogous tubular tail A (tubeA) proteins. The origin of the dual tubeA arrangement was traced to a recombination between two more ancient podoviral lineages occurring ~0.7 Gya in the alphaproteobacterial order Rhizobiales. Descendants of the ancestral dual A recombinant were tracked forward forming both temperate and lytic phage clusters and exhibiting both vertical transmission with patchy persistence and horizontal transfer with respect to host taxonomy. The two ancestral lineages were traced backward, making junctions with a major metagenomic podoviral family, the LUZ24-like gammaproteobacterial phages, and Myxococcal phage Mx8, and finally joining near the origin of podoviruses with P22. With these most conservative among phage genes, deviations from uncomplicated vertical and nonrecombinant descent are numerous but countable. The use of timetrees allowed conceptualization of the phage’s evolution in the context of a sequence of ancestors spanning the time of life on Earth. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Marine Viruses)

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