1. Going to extremes – a metagenomic journey into the dark matter of life
- Author
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Alexandra Helleux, Håkon Dahle, Alexander Sczyrba, Karolina Kwiatkowska-Semrau, Anders Svensson, Ruoshi Zhang, Paul Terzian, Olesia Werbowy, Edda Olgudóttir, Gudmundur O. Hreggvidsson, Jonathan Vincent, Andrius Jasilionis, David Prangishvili, Thibaud Mas, Ehmke Pohl, Javier A. Linares-Pastén, Tobias Lutterman, Olafur H. Fridjonsson, Agata Jurczak-Kurek, Martin Steinegger, Arnthor Aevarsson, Justine Vanhalst, Mart Krupovic, Elisabet E. Gudmundsdottir, Sigurlaug Skirnisdottir, Milot Mirdita, Tadeusz Kaczorowski, Monika Szadkowska, Joanna Lange, Magdalena Plotka, Hildegard Watzlawick, François Enault, Magdalena Cichowicz-Cieślak, Sigmar K. Stefansson, Björn Walse, Jessica Louise Ray, Steffen A Lorentsen, Jörn Kalinowski, Slawomir Dabrowski, Josefin Ahlqvist, William Merre, Eric Olo Ndela, Lei Wang, Salam Al-Karadaghi, Sebastian Dorawa, Martin Welin, Francine Perler, Cathrine Pedersen, Tara Róbertsdóttir, Stefanie Freitag-Pohl, Anna-Karina Kaczorowska, Ruth-Anne Sandaa, Jérémy Courtin, Ilmur Jónsdóttir, Ewa Wons, Bjorn T. Adalsteinsson, Úlfur Áugúst Átlasson, Birkir Reynisson, Katrine Stange Overå, Christian Henke, Maria Håkansson, Julien Lebrat, Annika Jochheim, Mathilde Tourigny, Bas Vroling, Ying Liu, Eirin Glomsaker, Olav Lanes, Sigrídur Hjörleifdóttir, Sólveig K Pétursdóttir, Lukasz P. Kozlowski, Bernd Striberny, David Brandt, Agnieszka Morzywolek, Mickael Guérin, Julia Dusaucy, Ida Helene Steen, Clovis Galiez, Sigurd E Gundesø, J. Altenbuchner, Lilja Björk Jónsdóttir, Jørn Remi Henriksen, Katy A. S. Cornish, Tom van den Bergh, Eva Nordberg Karlsson, Johannes Söding, Hördur Gudmundsson, Hasan Arsin, Anita-Elin Fedøy, Emma J Tarrant, Samia Djeffane, Terese Solstad, Matis ohf [Reykjavík], University of Gdańsk (UG), Lund University [Lund], SARomics Biostructures [Lund, Sweden], Universität Stuttgart [Stuttgart], University of Bergen (UiB), Universität Bielefeld = Bielefeld University, Durham University, A&A Biotechnology [Gdansk, Poland], Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysikalische Chemie - Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry [Göttingen], Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, ArcticZymes Technologies [Tromsø, Norway], University of Iceland [Reykjavik], University of Warsaw (UW), Département de Microbiologie - Department of Microbiology, Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP), Bio-Prodict [Nijmegen The Netherlands], Perls of Wisdom Biotech Consulting [Brookline, MA], NORCE Norwegian Research Center, University of Stuttgart, Funding was provided by the Europan Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme Virus-X project: Viral Metagenomics for Innovation Value (grant no. 685778). This work was supported by the BMBF-funded de.NBI Cloud within the German Network for Bioinformatics Infrastructure (de.NBI) (031A537B, 031A533A, 031A538A, 031A533B, 031A535A, 031A537C, 031A534A, 031A532B)., and European Project: 685778,H2020,H2020-LEIT-BIO-2015-1,Virus-X(2016)
- Subjects
Engineering ,Exploit ,archaea ,bioprospecting ,Genome, Viral ,virus ,Microbiology ,Viral gene ,03 medical and health sciences ,Viral Proteins ,Hydrothermal Vents ,Databases, Genetic ,Genetics ,Functional studies ,Molecular Biology ,030304 developmental biology ,virosphere ,0303 health sciences ,Bioprospecting ,metagenomics ,030306 microbiology ,business.industry ,Virome ,Scale (chemistry) ,Computational Biology ,Data science ,Europe ,[SDV.MP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology ,Metagenomics ,Viruses ,Ecosystem dynamics ,business ,thermophiles - Abstract
The Virus-X-Viral Metagenomics for Innovation Value-project was a scientific expedition to explore and exploit uncharted territory of genetic diversity in extreme natural environments such as geothermal hot springs and deep-sea ocean ecosystems. Specifically, the project was set to analyse and exploit viral metagenomes with the ultimate goal of developing new gene products with high innovation value for applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical, and the life science sectors. Viral gene pool analysis is also essential to obtain fundamental insight into ecosystem dynamics and to investigate how viruses influence the evolution of microbes and multicellular organisms. The Virus-X Consortium, established in 2016, included experts from eight European countries. The unique approach based on high throughput bioinformatics technologies combined with structural and functional studies resulted in the development of a biodiscovery pipeline of significant capacity and scale. The activities within the Virus-X consortium cover the entire range from bioprospecting and methods development in bioinformatics to protein production and characterisation, with the final goal of translating our results into new products for the bioeconomy. The significant impact the consortium made in all of these areas was possible due to the successful cooperation between expert teams that worked together to solve a complex scientific problem using state-of-the-art technologies as well as developing novel tools to explore the virosphere, widely considered as the last great frontier of life. © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS.
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- 2021
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