Abstract
Cyanobacteria are often the dominant phototrophs in polar freshwater communities; yet, the phages that infect them remain unknown. Here, we present a genomic and morphological characterization of cyanophage S-EIV1 that was isolated from freshwaters on Ellesmere Island (Nunavut, High Arctic Canada), and which infects the polar Synechococcus sp., strain PCCC-A2c. S-EIV1 represents a newly discovered evolutionary lineage of bacteriophages whose representatives are widespread in aquatic systems. Among the 130 predicted open reading frames (ORFs) there is no recognizable similarity to genes that encode structural proteins other than the large terminase subunit and a distant viral morphogenesis protein, indicating that the genes encoding the structural proteins of S-EIV1 are distinct from other viruses. As well, only 19 predicted coding sequences on the 79 178 bp circularly permuted genome have homology with genes encoding proteins of known function. Although S-EIV1 is divergent from other sequenced phage isolates, it shares synteny with phage genes captured on a fosmid from the deep-chlorophyll maximum in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as with an incision element in the genome of Anabaena variabilis (ATCC 29413). Sequence recruitment of metagenomic data indicates that S-EIV1-like viruses are cosmopolitan and abundant in a wide range of aquatic systems, suggesting they have an important ecological role.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to J.A. Gustavsen and C.E. Chow for help with library preparation and J.L. Clasen for helpful comments on the manuscript. We are also thankful to A.D. Jungblut, J. Veillette, S. Charvet and D. Sarrazin for field assistance and B. Ross for technical assistance. This research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Network of Centres of Excellence ArcticNet, the FQRNT and UBC University Graduate Fellowship. We also thank Parks Canada, the Polar Continental Shelf Project (Natural Resources Canada) and the Northern Scientific Training Program (Aboriginal Affairs & Northern Development Canada) for logistical and infrastructure support.
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Chénard, C., Chan, A., Vincent, W. et al. Polar freshwater cyanophage S-EIV1 represents a new widespread evolutionary lineage of phages. ISME J 9, 2046–2058 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2015.24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2015.24
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