Abstract Current metagenome-assembled human phage catalogs contained mostly fragmented genomes. Here, we developed a vigorous phage detection method involving phage enrichment and long-read sequencing and applied to 135 fecal samples. With ~10 times more efficient in obtaining complete genomes (~34%) than the Gut Virome Database, we identified the first megabasephage (~1.03Mb), and revealed the hidden diversity of the gut phageome including dozens of phages more prevalent than the crAssphages and Gubaphages.

Efficient recovery of complete gut phage genomes by combined short- and long-sequencing