68th Canadian Geotechnical Conference and 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference

VIRUSES IN ANCIENT ICE WEDGES IN THE CENTRAL YAKUTIA, SIBERIA

Session: Permafrost Degradation II / Dégradation du pergélisol II

Anatoli Brushkov, Moscow State University (Russia)
Elina Karnysheva, Moscow State University (Russia)
Mariia Cherbunina, Moscow State University (Russia)
Gennady Griva, ATEMA Lab (Canada)
Svetlana Filippova, Vinogradsky Institute of Microbiology (Russia)
Dmitry Scladnev, Vinogradsky Institute of Microbiology (Russia)
Valery Galchenko, Vinogradsky Institute of Microbiology (Russia)

The study of the viral component of ancient microbial communities from permafrost is important for the understanding evolution of microbial communities, possibility of their variations due to climate change, changes in the physical-chemical state of permafrost and practical questions of biosafety. For the first time the virus particles in native samples of ancient ice wedges of the Mammoth Mountain in Siberia have been discovered. Defined morphological diversity of viruses that can be attributed to five main types: miovirus, sifovirus, podovirus, spherical and filamentous. Specific characteristic of these viruses are small size and fever genome.