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Single Cell Micro-aspiration as an Alternative Strategy to Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting for Giant Virus Mixture Separation
Published on: October 27, 2019
The global virome: not as big as we thought?
J Cesar Ignacio-Espinoza1, Sergei A Solonenko, Matthew B Sullivan
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Current Opinion in Virology
|July 31, 2013
Summary
Viruses are abundant and play critical ecosystem roles. This study investigates if current viral sampling technologies can capture the vast, largely undiscovered genetic material within viral genomes.
Area of Science:
- Environmental virology
- Genomics
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Viruses infect all organisms and act as genetic vectors.
- Viruses are abundant global players with critical ecosystem roles.
- Viral genomes contain a vast reservoir of novel genetic material.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate if current sampling technologies can capture the full scope of viral diversity.
- To assess advancements in viral metagenomics over the past decade.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of (meta)genomic data.
- Utilizing 'protein clusters' to analyze viral gene content.
- Comparing current data with previous estimates of viral genetic diversity.
Main Results:
- Novel genes constitute a significant portion of viral genomes.
- Previous estimates suggested billions of undiscovered phage-encoded ORFs.
- The study assesses the progress in sampling viral diversity.
Conclusions:
- Viruses represent a major reservoir of unexplored genetic material.
- Ongoing research aims to fully characterize viral genetic diversity.
- Advancements in sampling technologies are crucial for understanding viral roles in ecosystems.
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