Endemism shapes viral ecology and evolution in globally distributed hydrothermal vent ecosystems

Marguerite V. Langwig, Faith Koester, Cody Martin, Zhichao Zhou, Samantha B. Joye, Anna-Louise Reysenbach and Karthik Anantharaman ()
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Marguerite V. Langwig: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Faith Koester: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Cody Martin: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Zhichao Zhou: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Samantha B. Joye: University of Georgia
Anna-Louise Reysenbach: Portland State University
Karthik Anantharaman: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Viruses are ubiquitous in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, where they influence microbial communities and biogeochemistry. Yet, viral ecology and evolution remain understudied in these environments. Here, we identify 49,962 viruses from 52 globally distributed hydrothermal vent samples (10 plume, 40 deposit, and 2 diffuse flow metagenomes), and reconstruct 5708 viral metagenome-assembled genomes, the majority of which were bacteriophages. Hydrothermal viruses were largely endemic, however, some viruses were shared between geographically separated vents, predominantly between the Lau Basin and Brothers Volcano in the Pacific Ocean. Geographically distant viruses shared proteins related to core functions such as structural proteins, and rarely, proteins of auxiliary functions involved in processes such as fermentation and cobalamin biosynthesis. Common microbial hosts of viruses included members of Campylobacterota, Alpha-, and Gammaproteobacteria in deposits, and Gammaproteobacteria in plumes. Campylobacterota- and Gammaproteobacteria-infecting viruses reflected variations in hydrothermal chemistry and functional redundancy in their predicted microbial hosts, suggesting that hydrothermal geology is a driver of viral ecology and coevolution of viruses and hosts. Our results indicate that viral ecology and evolution in globally distributed hydrothermal vents is shaped by endemism and thus may have increased susceptibility to the negative impacts of deep-sea mining and anthropogenic change in ocean ecosystems.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59154-x

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