Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.3390/v15122330
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Identification of huge phages from wastewater metagenomes
Author Kallies, R.; Hu, D.; Abdulkadir, N.; Schloter, M.; Nunes da Rocha, U.
Source Titel Viruses
Year 2023
Department UMB
Volume 15
Issue 12
Page From art. 2330
Language englisch
Topic T7 Bioeconomy
Supplements https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/v15122330/s1
Keywords huge phage; wastewater; metagenome; viral metagenomics; virus genome annotation; virus phylogeny
Abstract Huge phages have genomes larger than 200 kilobases, which are particularly interesting for their genetic inventory and evolution. We screened 165 wastewater metagenomes for the presence of viral sequences. After identifying over 600 potential huge phage genomes, we reduced the dataset using manual curation by excluding viral contigs that did not contain viral protein-coding genes or consisted of concatemers of several small phage genomes. This dataset showed seven fully annotated huge phage genomes. The phages grouped into distinct phylogenetic clades, likely forming new genera and families. A phylogenomic analysis between our huge phages and phages with smaller genomes, i.e., less than 200 kb, supported the hypothesis that huge phages have undergone convergent evolution. The genomes contained typical phage protein-coding genes, sequential gene cassettes for metabolic pathways, and complete inventories of tRNA genes covering all standard and rare amino acids. Our study showed a pipeline for huge phage analyses that may lead to new enzymes for therapeutic or biotechnological applications.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=28243
Kallies, R., Hu, D., Abdulkadir, N., Schloter, M., Nunes da Rocha, U. (2023):
Identification of huge phages from wastewater metagenomes
Viruses 15 (12), art. 2330 10.3390/v15122330