Single-Virus Genomics: Studying Uncultured Viruses, One at a Time

In this article, we review and discuss the methodological aspects of the novel single-virus genomics approach which expand the toolkit for viral discovery in nature and open a new way in viral ecology. This powerful technology has allowed the discovery of eco-rich and cosmopolitan marine viruses, such as the uncultured virus 37-F6, which is likely the most abundant viral population in the surface ocean and that for years has been overlooked by standard viral metagenomics. In this article, a detailed protocol with best-practices for conducting single-virus genomics is provided highlighting important steps of the workflow.