Advances in viral auxiliary metabolic genes

Abstract:

Viruses play a key role in the biogeochemical cycle of global ocean by influencing the nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and genetic information transfer of microorganisms. Virus-encoded auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) can modulate the community composition and key metabolic pathways of microorganisms. Through the expression of AMGs, viruses reprogram the host metabolic pathways. Virus-encoded AMGs are known to include the genes associated with central carbon metabolism, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycling, nucleotide metabolism, and oxidative stress response. AMGs are beneficial to the assembly and release of progeny virus, which is of great significance for virus reproduction and the research on virus-host interaction mechanism. In this paper, we briefly reviewed the origin, classification, and ecological roles of virus-encoded AMGs, aiming to provide reference for illuminating the roles of viruses in different ecosystems.