A collaborative study between researchers from Yung lab and the GENOPHY group at the Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls has been accepted for publication in ISME Communications. The paper, titled “Unveiling Prasinovirus diversity and host specificity through targeted enrichment in the South China Sea,” sheds new light on the complex relationships between prasinoviruses and their algal hosts in marine ecosystems (https://doi.org/10.1093/ismeco/ycae109).
Using an innovative virus enrichment and sequencing method, our team successfully assembled 80 prasinovirus genomes from samples collected in the South China Sea. This research provides the first direct estimation of genome similarity correlating to host range with 94% accuracy.
Some key findings include:
- Unexpected host-switching across diverse algal lineages
- Detection of horizontal gene transfer between viruses and hosts
- Evidence of ongoing coevolutionary dynamics through diversifying selection on viral proteins
This work not only expands our understanding of prasinovirus genomic diversity but also highlights the intricate evolutionary mechanisms shaping virus-host interactions in marine environments.
Congratulations to all the authors on this significant contribution to the field of marine microbial ecology!
