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Abstract BackgroundRock-dwelling microorganisms are key players in ecosystem functioning of Antarctic ice free-areas. Yet, little is known about their diversity and ecology, and further still, viruses in these communities have been largely unexplored despite important roles related to host metabolism and nutrient cycling. To begin to address this, we present a large-scale viral catalog from Antarctic rock microbial communities. ResultsWe performed metagenomic analyses on rocks from across Antarctica representing a broad range of environmental and spatial conditions, and which resulted in a predicted viral catalog comprising > 75,000 viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUS). We found largely undescribed, highly diverse and spatially structured virus communities which had predicted auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) with functions indicating that they may be potentially influencing bacterial adaptation and biogeochemistry. ConclusionThis catalog lays the foundation for expanding knowledge of virosphere diversity, function, spatial ecology, and dynamics in extreme environments. This work serves as a step towards exploring adaptability of microbial communities in the face of a changing climate. 

Abstract Fungi are one of the most diverse groups of organisms with an estimated number of species in the range of 2–3 million. The higher-level ranking of fungi has been discussed in the framework of molecular phylogenetics since Hibbett et al., and the definition and the higher ranks (e.g., phyla) of the ‘true fungi’ have been revised in several subsequent publications. Rapid accumulation of novel genomic data and the advancements in phylogenetics now facilitate a robust and precise foundation for the higher-level classification within the kingdom. This study provides an updated classification of the kingdomFungi, drawing upon a comprehensive phylogenomic analysis ofHolomycota, with which we outline well-supported nodes of the fungal tree and explore more contentious groupings. We accept 19 phyla ofFungi,viz. Aphelidiomycota,Ascomycota,Basidiobolomycota,Basidiomycota,Blastocladiomycota,Calcarisporiellomycota,Chytridiomycota,Entomophthoromycota,Entorrhizomycota,Glomeromycota,Kickxellomycota,Monoblepharomycota,Mortierellomycota,Mucoromycota,Neocallimastigomycota,Olpidiomycota,Rozellomycota,Sanchytriomycota,andZoopagomycota. In the phylogenies,Caulochytriomycotaresides inChytridiomycota; thus, the former is regarded as a synonym of the latter, whileCaulochytriomycetesis viewed as a class inChytridiomycota. We provide a description of each phylum followed by its classes. A new subphylum,SanchytriomycotinaKarpov is introduced as the only subphylum inSanchytriomycota. The subclassPneumocystomycetidaeKirk et al. inPneumocystomycetes,Ascomycotais invalid and thus validated. Placements of fossil fungi in phyla and classes are also discussed, providing examples.