Fig. 1.

Sampling and analytical approaches used to generate metagenomes, viromes, and vMAGs. A Overview of sampling approaches to generate viromes and metagenomes.Viromes were sequenced from a size fraction below 0.22 μm or from a virus-like particle fraction achieved from ultracentrifugation [11, 28]. Metagenomes were sequenced using one of two main approaches: DNA from the bulk sample was extracted and sequenced, allowing the recovery of DNA from prokaryotes, viruses, and other microbes. Alternatively, after filtering a sample to isolate virus-like particles in the < 0.22 μm fraction, other studies extracted and sequenced DNA from the remaining > 0.22 μm fraction that did not pass through the filter [6, 45, 46]. B Overview of metagenome/virome assembly and virus identification methods to obtain viral metagenome-assembled genomes (vMAGs). C Overview of methods for the vMAG presence/absence analysis. Figure created with BioRender.com