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Viruses are by far the most abundant “lifeforms” in the oceans and are the reservoir of most of the genetic diversity in the sea. Every second, approximately 1023 viral infections occur in the ocean. Each infection has the potential to introduce new genetic information into an organism or progeny virus, thereby driving the evolution of both host and viral assemblages.

Compared to other organism genomes, such as bacteria, most viral diversity is unknown. This project completed a viral genome sequence from an ultra-low viral isolate input (~10 particles) based on a non-traditional amplification method called Multiple Annealing and Looping Based Amplification Cycles (MALBAC). While the validation and further refinement of this method continues; this method shows promise for sequencing viruses from environmental samples.