Viruses carrying genes for microbial extremotolerance are abundant and widely dispersed in the Atacama Desert hyperarid soil

Viruses play an essential role in shaping microbial community structures and serve as reservoirs for genetic diversity in many ecosystems. In hyperarid desert environments, where life itself becomes scarce and loses diversity, the interactions between viruses and host populations have remained elusive. Here, we resolved host-virus interactions in the soil metagenomes of the Atacama Desert hyperarid core, one of the harshest terrestrial environments on Earth. We show dispersal of diverse and abundant viruses that infect a wide range of hosts over 205 km across the desert. Host genomes encoded both adaptive and innate immune systems, providing evidence of viral predation being a key selective pressure along with abiotic stresses. Viral genomes carried extremotolerance features (i.e. DNA repair proteins, enzymes against oxidative damage) and other auxiliary metabolic genes, indicating that viruses could mediate the spread of microbial resilience against environmental stress across the desert. Our results suggest that the host-virus interactions in the Atacama Desert soils are dynamic and complex, shaping uniquely adapted microbiomes in this highly selective and hostile environment.