Virioplankton assemblages from challenger deep, the deepest place in the oceans

Chen Gao; Yantao Liang; Yong Jiang; David Paez-Espino; Meiaoxue Han; Chengxiang Gu; Meiwen Wang; Yumei Yang; Fengjiao Liu; Qingwei Yang; Zheng Gong; Xinran Zhang; Zhixiang Luo; Hui He; Cui Guo; Hongbing Shao; Chun Zhou; Yang Shi; Yu Xin; Jinyan Xing; Xuexi Tang; Qilong Qin; Yu-Zhong Zhang; Jianfeng He; Nianzhi Jiao; Andrew McMinn; Jiwei Tian; Curtis A Suttle; Min Wang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104680

Virioplankton assemblages from challenger deep, the deepest place in the oceans

iScience. 2022 Jun 27;25(8):104680. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104680. eCollection 2022 Aug 19.

Authors

Chen Gao^{1

2}, Yantao Liang^{1

2}, Yong Jiang^{1

2}, David Paez-Espino^{3

4}, Meiaoxue Han^{1

2}, Chengxiang Gu^{1

2}, Meiwen Wang^{1

2}, Yumei Yang⁵, Fengjiao Liu⁶, Qingwei Yang^{1

2}, Zheng Gong^{1

2}, Xinran Zhang^{1

2}, Zhixiang Luo^{1

2}, Hui He^{1

2}, Cui Guo^{1

2}, Hongbing Shao^{1

2}, Chun Zhou⁷, Yang Shi⁷, Yu Xin⁸, Jinyan Xing⁶, Xuexi Tang¹, Qilong Qin^{1

9}, Yu-Zhong Zhang^{1

9}, Jianfeng He¹⁰, Nianzhi Jiao¹¹, Andrew McMinn^{1

12}, Jiwei Tian^{7

13}, Curtis A Suttle¹⁴, Min Wang^{1

2

6}

Affiliations

¹ College of Marine Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Lab of Polar Oceanography and Global Ocean Change, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
² UMT-OUC Joint Center for Marine Studies, Qingdao 266003, China.
³ DOE Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
⁴ Mammoth Biosciences, Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁵ Inquire Life Diagnostics, Inc, Xi'an 710100, China.
⁶ The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266000, China.
⁷ Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Institute for Advanced Ocean Study, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Marine Biotechnology Research Center, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China.
¹⁰ SOA Key Laboratory for Polar Science, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200136, China.
¹¹ Institute of Marine Microbes and Ecospheres, State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China.
¹² Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
¹³ Laboratory for Ocean and Climate Dynamics, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
¹⁴ Departments of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology and Botany and Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Abstract

Hadal ocean biosphere, that is, the deepest part of the world's oceans, harbors a unique microbial community, suggesting a potential uncovered co-occurring virioplankton assemblage. Herein, we reveal the unique virioplankton assemblages of the Challenger Deep, comprising 95,813 non-redundant viral contigs from the surface to the hadal zone. Almost all of the dominant viral contigs in the hadal zone were unclassified, potentially related to Alteromonadales and Oceanospirillales. 2,586 viral auxiliary metabolic genes from 132 different KEGG orthologous groups were mainly related to the carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and arsenic metabolism. Lysogenic viral production and integrase genes were augmented in the hadal zone, suggesting the prevalence of viral lysogenic life strategy. Abundant rve genes in the hadal zone, which function as transposase in the caudoviruses, further suggest the prevalence of viral-mediated horizontal gene transfer. This study provides fundamental insights into the virioplankton assemblages of the hadal zone, reinforcing the necessity of incorporating virioplankton into the hadal biogeochemical cycles.

Keywords: Aquatic science; Biological sciences; Genomics; Oceanography.