Culture-independent approaches for studying viruses from hypersaline environments.

Characterization of New Viruses from Hypersaline Environments

Molecular and phenotypic characterization of ascomycetous yeasts in hypersaline soils of Urmia Lake basin (NW Iran)

Abstract The Urmia Lake National Park (NW Iran) represents a unique ecosystem owing to special ecological conditions prevailing the region. The Urmia Lake National Park comprises a range of normal to extreme environments, with variable range of salinity between 120-300 g/L. The present study was aimed to characterize ascomycetous yeast mycobiota inhabiting hypersaline soils in this region. Soi...

Viruses Occur Incorporated in Biogenic High-Mg Calcite from Hypersaline Microbial Mats

Using three different microscopy techniques (epifluorescence, electronic and atomic force microscopy), we showed that high-Mg calcite grains in calcifying microbial mats from the hypersaline lake "La Salada de Chiprana", Spain, contain viruses with a diameter of 50-80 nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer analysis revealed that they contain nitrogen and phosphorus in a molar ratio of ~9, whi...

Viruses of Haloarchaea

In hypersaline environments, haloarchaea (halophilic members of the Archaea) are the dominant organisms, and the viruses that infect them, haloarchaeoviruses are at least ten times more abundant. Since their discovery in 1974, described haloarchaeoviruses include head-tailed, pleomorphic, spherical and spindle-shaped morphologies, representing Myoviridae, Siphoviridae, Podoviridae, Pleolipoviri...

Salinity Regulation of the Interaction of Halovirus SNJ1 with Its Host and Alteration of the Halovirus Replication Strategy to Adapt to the Variable Ecosystem

Halovirus is a major force that affects the evolution of extreme halophiles and the biogeochemistry of hypersaline environments. However, until now, the systematic studies on the halovirus ecology and the effects of salt concentration on virus-host systems are lacking. To provide more valuable information for understanding ecological strategies of a virus-host system in the hypersaline ecosyste...