PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Daniel Tamarit
AU  - Eva F. Caceres
AU  - Mart Krupovic
AU  - Reindert Nijland
AU  - Laura Eme
AU  - Nicholas P. Robinson
AU  - Thijs J. G. Ettema
TI  - A closed <em>Candidatus</em> Odinarchaeum genome exposes Asgard archaeal viruses
AID  - 10.1101/2021.09.01.458545
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.09.01.458545
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/01/2021.09.01.458545.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/01/2021.09.01.458545.full
AB  - Asgard archaea have recently been identified as the closest archaeal relatives of eukaryotes. Their ecology remains enigmatic, and their virome, completely unknown. Here, we describe the closed genome of Ca. Odinarchaeum yellowstonii LCB_4, and, from this, obtain novel CRISPR arrays with spacer targets to several viral contigs. We find related viruses in sequence data from thermophilic environments and in the genomes of diverse prokaryotes, including other Asgard archaea. These novel viruses open research avenues into the ecology and evolution of Asgard archaea.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.