Viral diversity and activity in Arctic tundra soils in wintertime

Wintertime metatranscriptomics of Arctic tundra soils identified 995 viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUs), with 93% RNA viruses and evidence of active DNA virus infections.

• Why it matters: Warming Arctic soils may alter microbe-driven carbon feedbacks, but viral diversity, functions, and virus–host interactions outside the growing season remain poorly characterized.
• What they did: The study used metatranscriptomics with de novo virus prediction and targeted searches to profile winter viral diversity, activity, and putative virus–host links across vegetation types.
• The result: Viral communities differed by vegetation, with pH and moisture linked to those differences, and 81% of vOTUs had putative hosts, mostly fungi (515), including novel clades in Ambiviricota and Orpoviricetes.

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