Viromes vs. mixed community metagenomes: choice of method dictates interpretation of viral community ecology
Overall, our results show that the choice of method can lead to differing interpretations of viral community ecology. We suggest that the choice of whether to target a metagenome or virome to study viral communities should be dependent on the environmental context and ecological questions being asked. However, our overall recommendation to researchers investigating viral ecology and evolution is to pair both approaches to maximize their respective benefits. Video Abstract.
Authors
- Marguerite V. Langwig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0247-2816)
- James C. Kosmopoulos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7070-5418)
- Patricia Q. Tran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3948-3938)
- Karthik Anantharaman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9584-2491)
- Katherine M. Klier
Institutions
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Microbiome
- Published
- 2024-10-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-024-01905-x
- Citations
- 24
- Primary Topic
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 10.55
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences