We are going to study the biodiversity of DNA viruses, particularly bacteriophages, in soil samples using Illumina sequencing, How to prepare DNA samples? What are the primers of choice?
I am also interested in looking at viral communities with Illumina sequencing, but I am trying to use metagenomics on sediment samples as there are not any suitable viral marker genes. I have been trying to physically separate the viruses from bacteria and eurkaryotes. I first separate the viral particles from the sediment with chemical and physical methods, then lyse the cells with increased ionic concentration, treat with some kind of nuclease, filter, then carry out an SDS or CTAB extraction. I just started using Zymo research "Genomic DNA clean and concentrator" columns to eliminate humics and other contaminants.