Virome of soil ecosystems affiliated with kānuka

Host Nick Waipara welcomes Dr Cithy Jimenez-Silva (University of Auckland, University of Canterbury, Bioprotection Aotearoa) to present her postdoctoral research characterising the active soil virome in native kānuka forests across Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū, Banks Peninsula. Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth and help regulate microbial populations, ecosystems and biogeochemical cycling. Yet compared with marine environments, soil viruses, especially RNA viruses, remain poorly described. In this webinar, Cinthy presents her study of the soil virome at kānuka (Kunzea ericoides) restoration sites across environmental gradients in Horomaka, Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū (Banks Peninsula). She outlines a metatranscriptomic workflow covering viral sequence discovery, phylogenetics, host association and diversity metrics. The communities were highly diverse, dominated by double-stranded DNA phages (including Caudoviricetes) alongside abundant RNA viruses. Many of these were linked to fungal hosts, including nutrient-cycling Basidiomycetes, and to oomycetes such as Phytophthora. Many abundant contigs could not be classified, and novel RdRP candidates point to a large reservoir of “viral dark matter.” Climate and soil chemistry (e.g. phosphorus, potassium and sodium) shaped these viral communities. The study provides a baseline for restoration monitoring and shows how soil viruses could serve as indicators of forest health. ------- Rangahau Rising webinar series features fresh science from our rising stars in our research community. Learn more about this series here. https://bioprotection.org.nz/our-news... ------- Webinar chapters: 00:00 Welcome and Karakia 00:36 Meet Dr Cinthy Jimenez-Silva 02:41 Soil Viruses Motivation 06:42 Global Data Gaps 08:38 Kānuka as Model System 10:50 Sampling and Workflow 12:12 DNA Virome Findings 14:07 RNA Virome and Hosts 15:43 Viral Dark Matter 17:40 Environment Shapes Virome 20:05 Future Directions and Tools 22:40 Acknowledgements and Quote 25:17 Q&A Viruses Role 27:47 Q&A Methods and Unknowns 33:28 Q&A Function and Climate 37:40 Q&A Biomarkers and Next Steps 46:03 Closing and Next Seminar