Multilayered network analysis reveals the centrality of newly discovered Nucleocytoviricota in wastewater treatment plant communities.

Nucleocytoviricota are identified as central, highly influential entities shaping microbial community structure in wastewater treatment plants, with 61 genomes recovered from 23 sites.

• Why it matters: Understanding viral interactions in wastewater ecosystems is crucial because these entities influence microbial community dynamics, ecology, and evolution, yet their roles remain underexplored.
• What they did: Researchers recovered high-quality genomes of Nucleocytoviricota, virophages, and polinton-like viruses from metagenomes and integrated them into a multilayered interaction network to analyze their relationships.
• The result: Findings reveal that Nucleocytoviricota act as centrality-inducing entities, elevating other microbes and mobile elements into key network positions, highlighting their role as key community players.