Hayes Stephen, Mahony Jennifer, Nauta Arjen, van Sinderen Douwe
School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork T12 YT20, Ireland.
APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork T12 YT20, Ireland.
Viruses. 2017 May 24;9(6):127. doi: 10.3390/v9060127.
Bacteriophages are ubiquitous and numerous parasites of bacteria and play a critical evolutionary role in virtually every ecosystem, yet our understanding of the extent of the diversity and role of phages remains inadequate for many ecological niches, particularly in cases in which the host is unculturable. During the past 15 years, the emergence of the field of viral metagenomics has drastically enhanced our ability to analyse the so-called viral 'dark matter' of the biosphere. Here, we review the evolution of viral metagenomic methodologies, as well as providing an overview of some of the most significant applications and findings in this field of research.
噬菌体是细菌无处不在且数量众多的寄生物，在几乎每个生态系统中都发挥着关键的进化作用。然而，对于许多生态位而言，我们对噬菌体多样性程度及其作用的理解仍不充分，特别是在宿主不可培养的情况下。在过去15年中，病毒宏基因组学领域的出现极大地增强了我们分析生物圈中所谓病毒“暗物质”的能力。在此，我们回顾病毒宏基因组学方法的演变，并概述该研究领域一些最重要的应用和发现。
