Viral diversity, host interaction and biogeochemical potential of the Yongle Blue Hole (Dragon Hole) in the South China Sea

The Yongle Blue Hole (YBH) is one of the deep underwater caverns globally and characterized by sharp redox gradients and variable biological processes. Yet, the YBH viromes remain unexplored. This project aim to investigate the viral communities in both the viral and cellular fractions of water samples across stratified oxygen zones within YBH and compared them with open waters of South China Sea (SCS) and other semi-closed marine oxygen-depleted zones.