Name: Alice Ortmann

Email: aortmann@disl.org

Author: Alice C. Ortmann1,2, Mary M. Bateson3, Frank F. Roberto4 and Mark J. Young3,5

Author affiliation: 1 Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA 2 Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, AL, USA 3 Thermal Biology Institute and Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA 4 Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, USA 5 Department of Microbiology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA Presenting author

Abstract title: Linking changes in virus communities with CRISPRs using metagenomes

Absstract:

Acidic hot springs represent a relatively simple ecosystem composed only of prokaryotes and viruses. At temperatures above 80?C and acidic conditions (< pH 4) these systems are dominated by Archaea, with relatively few species occurring in a single spring. Because of the relative simplicity of acidic hot springs, we felt they would be good systems to investigate the temporal dynamics of both the host and the virus community. As the majority of isolated archaeal viruses infect a small number of hosts that appear not to dominate in the environment, we chose to use a metagenomics approach to characterize the communities. Two different samples were collected for both the host and virus communities from a single hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. Analysis of the host diversity suggests that a single species dominate at both times, but a secondary species changed between sampling periods. Over a similar time period a shift in the virus community can be seen based on a change in the dominant known virus types. In both samples, the majority of virus sequences have no known matches in Genbank. The metagenome analysis suggests the virus communities are much more diverse than previously suspected, while the host community diversity appears to be low. Comparison between CRISPR spacers from the host metagenome with the virus metagenome suggests that the putative immune system may have a role in driving changes in virus diversity.