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Virome refers to the collection of nucleic acids, both RNA and DNA, that make up the viral community associated with a particular ecosystem or holobiont. The word is derived from virus and genome and first used by Forest Rohwer and colleagues to describe viral shotgun metagenomes.[1] All macro-organisms have viromes that include bacteriophage and viruses. Viromes are important in the nutrient and energy cycling,[2] development of immunity,[3] and a major source of genes through lysogenic conversion.[4]

Viromes were the first examples of shotgun community sequence,[5] which is now known as metagenomics. In the 2000s, the Rohwer lab sequenced viromes from seawater,[5][6] marine sediments,[7] adult human stool,[8] infant human stool,[9] soil,[10] and blood.[11] This group also performed the first RNA virome with collaborators from the Genomic Institute of Singapore.[12] From these early works, it was concluded that most of the genomic diversity is contained in the global virome and that most of this diversity remains uncharacterized.[13] This view was supported by individual genomic sequencing project, particularly the mycobacterium phage.[14]

Methods of study In order to study the virome, virus-like particles are separated from cellular components, usually using a combination of filtration, density centrifugation, and enzymatic treatments to get rid of free nucleic acids.[15] The nucleic acids are then sequenced and analyzed using metagenomic methods. Alternatively, there are recent computational methods that use directly metagenomic assembled sequences to discover viruses.[16]