Viral Ecology and Omics

Image: Sybille Huck
VEO is the abbreviation of our working group's name
Welcome to the VEO website
We are the Viral Ecology and Omics (VEO) Group - a multi-disciplinary and international group of scientists, and part of the Cluster of Excellence "Balance of the Microverse" at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.

Studying the Microverse

The microverse is defined as the globally connected network of microbiomes that covers the Earth and all things on it. With its ~1030 microbes and ~1031 viruses, the Microverse could be the most complex system we know. Similar environmental conditions may have different outcomes, for example human gut microbiomes may differ significantly, even between related individuals on the same diet. A plethora of factors affect microbiome composition, and to isolate and quantify the impact of any individual factor requires high throughput experiments and 'omics-level measurements. We study viral and microbial ecology across biomes, ranging from environmental (freshwater, marine, terrestrial) to host-associated (human, insect, plant).

Viral Ecology

The number of virus genome sequences from uncultivated sources such as metagenomes has outpaced those from isolates over the past decade (note the logarithmic Y-axis). The challenge facing us now is to determine their ecological roles. The number of virus genome sequences from uncultivated sources such as metagenomes has outpaced those from isolates over the past decade (note the logarithmic Y-axis). The challenge facing us now is to determine their ecological roles. Graphic: Roux et al., Nature Biotechnology 2018

Parasites are an integral part of any system and the Microverse is no exception. Viruses are genetic parasites that independently arose several times in evolution - some even think that viruses existed before there were cells. More than four billion years of virus-host interactions and co-evolution have led to an incredible diversity in types, behaviors, and mechanisms by which viruses persist. The viral ecosystem is defined by the cellular hosts they infect, so to understand the ecology of viruses we need to understand their interactions with their hosts.

Most of the ~1031 viruses on Earth infect micro-organisms, including bacteria, fungi, protists, archaea, and other microbes. The effects of these viruses may be observed on many levels: They accelerate genomic evolution, act as vectors of horizontal gene transfer, manipulate host phenotypes, contribute to driving the global nutrient cycles, enhance our immune system, and phage therapy could be the solution to the rising global antibiotic resistance crisis. 

Perhaps the most important role of viruses of microbes is their effect on the balance of the Microverse, and as such topical for the  Cluster of ExcellenceExternal link in JenaExternal link .