Scientists find evidence of virus-eating microorganisms

Scientists have discovered the primary compelling proof that two teams of ecologically vital marine microorganisms could possibly be consuming viruses — catching their “prey” and engulfing them, an advance which will result in a greater understanding of the move of natural matter within the oceans.

The findings, revealed within the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, go in opposition to the presently predominant views of the position of each viruses and these teams of single-celled organisms referred to as protists within the marine meals webs.

“Our data show that many protist cells contain DNA of a wide variety of non-infectious viruses but not bacteria, strong evidence that they are feeding on viruses rather than on bacteria,” mentioned research corresponding creator Ramunas Stepanauskas, Director of the Single Cell Genomics Center at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences within the US.

The scientists defined that the predominant mannequin of the position of viruses within the marine ecosystem is that of the “viral shunt,” the place microbes contaminated with viruses lose a considerable fraction of their chemical substances again to the pool of dissolved natural matter.

However, the present research famous that the viral shunt could possibly be complemented by a hyperlink within the marine microbial meals net which can represent a “sink of viral particles in the ocean.”

According to the researchers, this discovering “has implications for the flow of carbon through the microbial food web.” In the research, Stepanauskas and his colleagues sampled floor seawater from the Northwestern Atlantic within the Gulf of Maine within the US in July 2009, and the Mediterranean off Catalonia, Spain in January and July 2016.

They used fashionable single-cell genomics instruments to sequence the full DNA from 1,698 particular person protists within the water, and located proof of protists with or with out related DNA.

The researchers defined that the related DNA could possibly be from symbiotic organisms, ingested prey, or viruses or micro organism sticking to the protists’ exterior. While the method may be very delicate, the scientists mentioned it doesn’t immediately present the kind of relationship between a protist and its associates.

The scientists discovered a spread of protists together with teams referred to as alveolates, stramenopiles, chlorophytes, cercozoans, picozoans, and choanozoans. They mentioned 19 per cent of the genome from the one cell organisms taken from the Gulf of Maine and 48 per cent of these from the Mediterranean had been related to bacterial DNA, suggesting that these protists had eaten micro organism.

But they added that viral sequences had been extra widespread, making up 51 per cent of the protists’ genome from the Gulf of Maine and 35 per cent of these from the Mediterranean, with a frequency of 1 to 52 virus sorts per protist. According to the researchers, most of those had been from viruses identified to contaminate micro organism — presumably representing parasites of the protists’ bacterial prey.

But they mentioned choanozoans and picozoans, which solely occurred within the Gulf of Maine pattern, had been totally different since these teams, neither of which have chloroplasts, are poorly identified.

The scientists famous that the choanozoans are of nice evolutionary curiosity because the closest residing family of animals and fungi.

The tiny single-celled organisms had been first found twenty years in the past, and till now, their meals sources had been a puzzle, as their feeding equipment is simply too small for micro organism, however ample for viruses, the researchers mentioned.

In the present analysis, they discovered that each single one of many choanozoan and picozoan genomes had been related to viral sequences from bacteria-eating viruses referred to as phages, however principally with none bacterial DNA. The identical genome sequences had been discovered throughout an important range of species, the research famous.

“It is very unlikely that these viruses are capable of infecting all the protists in which they were found,” mentioned Julia Brown, a co-author of the research on the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

Based on these findings, the scientists concluded that choanozoans and picozoans “probably routinely eat viruses.”

“Viruses are rich in phosphorus and nitrogen, and could potentially be a good supplement to a carbon-rich diet that might include cellular prey or carbon-rich marine colloids,” Brown mentioned.

The scientists imagine the elimination of viruses from the water could scale back the variety of viruses accessible to contaminate different organisms, whereas additionally shuttling the natural carbon inside virus particles increased up the meals chain.

“Future research might consider whether protists that consume viruses accumulate DNA sequences from their viral prey within their own genomes, or consider how they might protect themselves from infection,” Brown mentioned.

(This story has been revealed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content.)

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