Oysters from five continents harbour a vast array of previously unknown RNA viruses, including many putative viruses of vertebrates
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Oysters are vital to global aquaculture and marine ecosystems, yet, their associated RNA viruses remain largely unexplored. Here, we analysed ∼1,000 publicly available metatranscriptomic datasets from 13 oyster species across 14 countries and 5 continents to characterize the oyster RNA virome (ORV). We identified 1,515 distinct RNA viruses putatively representing 17 viral orders and 766 species-level viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUs), with ∼62% being previously undocumented putative species. These viruses not only populate extant branches of RNA virus evolution, but also represent previously unrecognized families and genera, and include viruses that putatively infect bacteria, fungi, protists, plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates. Based on sequence similarity, we found many calicivirus-like, orthoreovirus-like, astrovirus-like, and picornavirus-like viruses that do not infect invertebrates or microbes; thus, oysters accumulate diverse viruses from the surrounding water, and can potentially be interrogated as reporters of viruses circulating in the environment.
Authors: Kevin Xu Zhong, Amy M. Chan, Curtis A. Suttle
Institution: University of British Columbia
Language: English
Subfield: Virology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214966693