Unprecedented urban freshwater microviral survey highlights shift from sewage to river water communities

Across an urban sewage–treated wastewater–river water continuum, 18,449 complete microvirus genomes revealed water type as the main driver, with Gokushovirales dominating and Betagokushoviridae most prevalent in TW and RW.

• Why it matters: Microviruses remain poorly resolved in urban freshwater systems, and it is unclear how sewage inputs and wastewater treatment reshape their communities along connected water compartments.
• What they did: Complete microvirus genomes were recovered from sewage water, treated wastewater, and river water, then grouped into 825 genera to assess diversity, taxonomy, and ecological distribution using alpha/beta-diversity analyses.
• The result: Wastewater treatment plants acted as strong biological filters, enriching Alpavirales in sewage but depleting them after treatment, and producing pronounced, reproducible continuum shifts that suggest selected groups could serve as bioindicators of anthropogenic influence.

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