RNA virus ecogenomics along a subarctic permafrost thaw gradient

Abstract

Climate change thaws permafrost, which releases greenhouse gases partly from dormant microorganisms awakening and metabolizing organic matter. Though DNA viruses that infect these soil microbes have been studied, little is known on soil RNA viruses, which typically infect microeukaryotes. Here we identify and characterize 2,651 RNA viruses from a 4-year time series of bulk soil metatranscriptomes derived from the climatically fragile Stordalen Mire ecosystem --a long studied permafrost peatland. RNA virus diversity was structured by habitat (palsa, bog, and fen), and these patterns correlated with pH and carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Further, host prediction, virus-encoded metabolite-transforming and information-processing functions suggested roles in ecosystem-scale carbon fluxes and contribute to greenhouse gases emissions. Together, these RNA virus ecogenomic data in permafrost provide essential baseline information for integration into predictive models to support hypothesis testing.