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High diversity and potential origins of T4-type bacteriophages on the surface of Arctic glaciers

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Abstract

Tailed bacteriophages are the most abundant viruses in the biosphere. Here we examined the T4-type bacteriophage community inhabiting the surface of two glaciers in Svalbard. We used a molecular approach to target g23, the major capsid protein gene, to demonstrate that in the extreme cryoconite hole habitats the T4-type phages are surprisingly diverse. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that cryoconite hole sediments harbour a mixed phage community spanning multiple T4-type phage subgroups. The majority (71 %) of phage sequences clustered into three novel phylogenetically distinct groups, whilst the remainder clustered with known marine and soil derived phage sequences. The meltwater in cryoconite holes also contained a further distinct phage community which was related to previously detected marine phage variants. The ability of phages to move between marine and glacial habitats was tested in a transplantation experiment. Phages from the nearby marine fjord were found to be capable of initiating infection of supraglacial bacteria, suggesting suitable hosts could be found by non-native phages. Together this evidence suggests that the surface of glaciers contain both novel and cosmopolitan phages, some of which may have arrived in the cryosphere from other biomes.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the UK Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC—NE/G00496X/1 and NE/J013854/1) to AMA. CMB was funded by a NERC Doctoral Training Programme grant. We would like to thank three anonymous reviewers for valuable comments to an earlier draft of this manuscript. We would also like to thank staff at the NERC Arctic Research Station for logistical support and field assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, BS8 1SS, Bristol, UK

    Christopher M. Bellas & Alexandre M. Anesio

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  1. Christopher M. Bellas
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  2. Alexandre M. Anesio
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Correspondence to Christopher M. Bellas.

Additional information

Communicated by S. Albers.

Electronic supplementary material

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792_2013_569_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Online resource 1 Amino acid alignments of representative g23 fragments from cryoconite holes (AB, VB and CRY prefix) and a proglacial lake (PRO prefix) alongside similar representatives from GenBank. A blue background indicates that amino acid motifs were conserved for >90 % of the sequences. A dash indicates a space was inserted to preserve the alignment. The two regions excluded from the phylogenetic analysis are encompassed by the grey boxes. (PDF 1215 kb)

792_2013_569_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Online resource 2 g23 sequence fragment matches to GenBank. For each cryoconite clone the closest match to GenBank is listed as a GenBank ID number and also clone number to aid in clone identification in the phylogenetic tree. Sequence length refers to amino acid length. Location and environment refer to the nearest matching GenBank clone. (PDF 313 kb)

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Bellas, C.M., Anesio, A.M. High diversity and potential origins of T4-type bacteriophages on the surface of Arctic glaciers. Extremophiles 17, 861–870 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-013-0569-x

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