After manual curation, information about host taxonomy was expand

After manual curation, information about host taxonomy was expanded to 100% through manual curation (��Specific Host�� Figure 3) and alternate hosts were manually determined for nine (33%) phages (��Host Range�� Figure 3). The phage taxonomies documented worldwide distributors in INSDC reports were compared to taxonomies documented in the phage isolation and sequencing publications, as well as to the F��lix d’H��relle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses (FHRCBV). When conflicts occur, the FHRCBV is considered the expert taxonomy. For instance, Vibrio phage VP5 (NCBI taxid: 260827) is classified as Podovirdae in its INSDC report, whereas, according to the long non-contractile tail evident in the EM image in FHRCBV (accession: HER 169), it has been expertly classified as Siphoviridae (Sylvain Moineau, personal communication).

In addition to missing data, conflicting fields were also encountered. For example, the Vibrio phages VP2, VP4, and VP5, are reported as belonging to the Podoviridae in their INSDC genome reports. However, according to the F��lix d’H��relle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, VP5 belongs to the Siphoviridae (as confirmed by expert electron micrography), and VP2 and VP4 are described, with accompanying EM images, as myoviruses by Koga et al. in the description of their initial isolation [25]. Furthermore, the INSDC reports for Vibrio phages VP2, VP4, and VP5 report their host as Vibrio cholerae. This may be true for the phages used in the sequencing project in 2003 (though this can not be confirmed, as their genomes were directly submitted with no accompanying publication), however the phages were reportedly collected from seawater near Tokushima, Japan and isolated on Vibrio parahaemolyticus in 1982 [25].

Exploratory Analysis Contextual data is essential in gaining an understanding of the biology of these genomes as a group. Here we review key features of this collection of marine phage as highlighted by access to associated metadata, much of which is newly associated due to our manual curation efforts. Genome Size Genome size has been implicated as diagnostic of biological properties of the phage; size is directly correlated with virion complexity and interference with host cellular activities [26]. Based on genome size, one-third of the sequenced marine phages are in the 75th percentile of all sequenced phages (Figure 5).

As we sequence more phage genomes, it appears that those of marine phage are generally among the largest AV-951 known [3,5] (Panel b of Figure 5). In the future, a closer look at the gene content of marine vs. non-marine phages could suggest whether this size is due to the great number of host-related genes carried by marine phages [2-6], or some other underlying evolutionary process. Figure 5 Overview of marine phage isolation, sequencing year, and genome properties stored in GCDML reports.

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