Viral Metagenomics

Viruses are ubiquitous entities in the biosphere that can infect the three domains of life. Knowledge of the virosphere has been possible with techniques such as metagenomics, with which viral diversity, genomic composition of new viruses, their role within ecosystems, and their interactions with their hosts have been determined. Until now, there were no universal protocols for the study of viruses; in fact, there are still many limitations, experimental and in the processing of the viral metagenome, which must be overcome. At the moment, there are different protocols for extraction, sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis, given the genetic diversity of viruses. Thus, here we describe how metagenomics has made it possible to know viral diversity from different environmental and biological sources. Likewise, we show the state of the art of the different bioinformatic protocols for the analysis of viruses from metagenomes. Finally, the challenges faced by viral metagenomics in biological and environmental systems are shown.