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Optimization of viral resuspension methods for carbon-rich soils along a permafrost thaw gradient

Journal Article · · PeerJ
DOI:https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1999· OSTI ID:1506096
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Dept. of Soil, Water and Environmental Science; Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States). Dept. of Microbiology; Ohio State University
  2. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States). Dept. of Microbiology
  3. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States). Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology
  4. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Dept. of Soil, Water and Environmental Science; Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States). Dept. of Microbiology
  5. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States). Dept. of Microbiology; Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology; Dept. of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering

Permafrost stores approximately 50% of global soil carbon (C) in a frozen form; it is thawing rapidly under climate change, and little is known about viral communities in these soils or their roles in C cycling. In permafrost soils, microorganisms contribute significantly to C cycling, and characterizing them has recently been shown to improve prediction of ecosystem function. In other ecosystems, viruses have broad ecosystem and community impacts ranging from host cell mortality and organic matter cycling to horizontal gene transfer and reprogramming of core microbial metabolisms. Here we developed an optimized protocol to extract viruses from three types of high organic-matter peatland soils across a permafrost thaw gradient (palsa, moss-dominated bog, and sedge-dominated fen). Three separate experiments were used to evaluate the impact of chemical buffers, physical dispersion, storage conditions, and concentration and purification methods on viral yields. The most successful protocol, amended potassium citrate buffer with bead-beating or vortexing and BSA, yielded on average as much as 2-fold more virus-like particles (VLPs) g–1of soil than other methods tested. All method combinations yielded VLPs g–1of soil on the 108order of magnitude across all three soil types. The different storage and concentration methods did not yield significantly more VLPs g–1of soil among the soil types. In conclusion, this research provides much-needed guidelines for resuspending viruses from soils, specifically carbon-rich soils, paving the way for incorporating viruses into soil ecology studies.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States).
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0010580
OSTI ID:
1506096
Journal Information:
PeerJ, Journal Name: PeerJ Vol. 4; ISSN 2167-8359
Publisher:
PeerJ Inc.Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Soil Viral Communities Vary Temporally and along a Land Use Transect as Revealed by Virus-Like Particle Counting and a Modified Community Fingerprinting Approach (fRAPD) journal October 2017
Uncovering a hidden diversity: optimized protocols for the extraction of dsDNA bacteriophages from soil text January 2020
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