RNA bacteriophages are recognized as abundant and diverse components of soil viral communities, yet their ecological roles remain poorly defined. Advances in metatranscriptomic sequencing and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP)–based detection have enabled systematic investigation of environmental RNA viruses, but most studies emphasize diversity rather than the population’s ability to survive under climate change. 

This study investigated how long-term soil warming affects RNA bacteriophage diversity and stability in temperate forest soils using publicly available metatranscriptomic datasets from the Harvard Forest warming experiment accessed through the Joint Genome Institute IMG/M platform. RdRP-containing contigs were clustered into viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUs) to compare community composition across heated and control plots. Relative gene abundance, recurrence across samples, and genome fragmentation will be evaluated as indicators of ecological persistence under long-term soil warming.

By prioritizing ecological persistence-focused datasets, this project aimed to identify RNA bacteriophage communities that remain consistently associated with soil microbial communities under warming and to advance understanding of how RNA viruses contribute to microbial regulation in a changing climate.