Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of virus assemblages present in a hypersaline environment.

Abstract

A method for analyzing virus assemblages in aquatic environments was developed and used for studying the highest-salinity ponds (from 13.4 to 35% salinity) from a multi-pond solar saltern in Alicante, Spain. The protocol consisted of a series of concentration and purification steps including tangential flow filtration and ultracentrifugation, followed by the preparation of total viral nucleic acids that were subsequently separated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. For every sample analyzed, a characteristic DNA pattern was obtained, whose complexity was related to viral diversity. The comparison of our results with a similar analysis carried out with marine virus assemblages shows that, as expected, the viral diversity corresponding to the analyzed hypersaline environment is considerably lower than that of a marine environment.

Publication
International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology
Beatriz Díez Moreno
Beatriz Díez Moreno
Associate Professor.
P. Universidad Católica de Chile.
School of Biological Sciences,
Department of Molecular
Genetics and Microbiology,
Santiago, Chile.
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