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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2024 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Int J Astrobiol. 2023 Apr 5;22(4):247–271. doi: 10.1017/s1473550423000058

Table 2.

Example locations where viruses have been observed through isolation or genomic studies

Location Condition Reference
Atmosphere
 Droplets suspended in the atmosphere N/A Reche et al. (2018)
 Air samples (Korea) ~−4 to 20°C, ~4–15mb vapour pressure Whon et al. (2012)
Freshwater sites
 Lakes, rivers, wetlands (Ontario, Canada) 3.5–18°C, pH 5.85–9.09 Kyle and Ferris (2013)
 Lake Ontario, Lake Erie (Great Lakes) N/A Mohiuddin and Schellhom (2015)
Acid mine drainages
 Mine sites (Southern China) N/A Gao et al. (2022)
 Sudbury Igneous Complex (Ontario, Canada) 14°C, pH 2.45–4.00 Kyle and Ferris (2013)
Permafrost-associated soils
 Alaska Peatland Experiment (APEX) site − 1.5°C Trubl et al. (2021)
 Stordalen Mire field site near Abisko, Sweden 0–17°C, pH 3.4–6.2 Trubl et al. (2018, 2019)
 Permafrost thaw gradient (Sweden) 0–17°C, pH 3.4–6.2 Emerson et al. (2018)
Ice cores or cryoconite holes
 Canadian Arctic ice core −31 to −9°C, 4–6 psu salinity Wells and Deming (2006a)
 Arctic nepheloid layer −12 to 8°C, 50 psu salinity, 200 atm Wells and Deming (2006b)
 Cryopeg brine, sea-ice brine, melted sea ice N/A Zhong et al. (2020)
 Antarctic cryoconite holes N/A Sommers et al. (2019)
Soda Lakes/solar salterns
 Mono Lake (CA, USA) ~5–14°C, pH ~ 10, 70–85 psu salinity Brum and Steward (2010)
 Solar salterns and salt lakes (Sicily, Italy, Thailand, Israel, Slovenia, Spain) Viruses grown under 37°C, pH 7.2, 30% w/v salt water Atanasova et al. (2012)
 Magadi and Shala Lakes Viruses grown under 37°C, pH 9, 5% NaCl van Zyl et al. (2016)
 Great Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge (OK, USA) Virus grown under 15–30°C, pH 6–9, 5–20% NaCl Seaman and Day (2007)
Hot springs
 Obama hot spring sediment (Japan) 70–90°C, pH 6–9, 0–5.8% NaCl Nagayoshi et al. (2016)
 Hot Springs (Pozzuoi, Italy) 87–93°C, pH 1.5 Haring et al. (2005)
 Yellowstone hot springs (USA) Bear paw (74°C, pH 7.34); octopus (93°C, pH 8.14) Schoenfeld et al. (2008)
Fumarole
 Campi Flegrei volcano (Pozzuoli, Italy) 81–96°C; pH 1–7 Baquero et al. (2020)
Deep-sea sediments
 Deep subsurface sediments of the Peru margin ~318 mbsf Engelhardt et al. (2013)
 Subseafloor sediment continental shelf of Peru 5–159 mbsf Engelhardt et al. (2015)
 Baltic Sea subseafloor sediments 37.1–437.1 m depth below water Cai et al. (2019)
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents
 Wocan and Tianxiu hydrothermal fields N/A Cheng et al. (2022)
 Guaymas Basin, Gulf of CA 2000 m depth below water; virus isolate grown under 80°C, pH 6.3, 2% NaCl Thiroux et al. (2021)
Other
 Chemically harsh conditions Virus survival in 5–9 M urea Gupta et al. (1995)
 Chemically harsh conditions Virus survival in 99% acetonitrile Olofsson et al. (2001)
 Ice cubes N/A Jalava et al. (2019)

This table provides examples, and it is not a comprehensive review of all locations where viruses have been observed/isolated. psu, practical salinity unit; mbsf, metres below sea floor.