Is it just a phage? Autochthonous bacteriophages and its importance in the microbial loop

The microbial loop is an important component of planktonic communities and is an intermediate element of organic-matter transformation. Lake Baikal is an ancient, oligotrophic lake with high scientific and practical significance. The Autochthonous bacteriophages found in the lake are a previously unknown element in the microbial loop in Lake Baikal. 

Drucker et al. (2019) used transmission electron microscopy to observe bacteriophage samples collected in littoral and pelagic areas of Lake Baikal. Morphological diversity of phages were identified and the total number of bacteria was measured on polycarbonate filters. Many of the morphotypes identified are not present in the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) and have not yet been described. This study highlighted the high taxonomic diversity of bacteriophages. This is not surprising considering its long period of existence which resulted in the formation of a unique freshwater biota. Phage purification and DNA isolation were performed and high-throughput sequencing was used to sequence and assemble the genomes of phages PaBG and MD8. The genome analysis of MD8 revealed a cluster of genes which determined its ecological significance depending on the state of biofilm. This sheds a light on the importance of the chemical and physical factors of the environment which needs further investigating.

Drucker, V.V., Belykh, O.I., Gorshkova, A.S., Bondar, A.A. and Sykilinda, N.N., 2019. Autochthonous Bacteriophages in the Microbial Loop Structure of Different Biotopes of Lake Baikal. Contemporary Problems of Ecology, 12(2), pp.143-154.