United States: In the latest discovery, hundreds of new giant viruses were just discovered by scientists in a global study involving oceans around the world.
Marine biologist Benjamin Minch and virologist Mohammad Moniruzzaman of the University of Miami custom-built computer software to discover the genomes of microbes in samples of seawater – including 230 giant viruses previously unknown to science.
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These viruses are particularly important to describe life in the sea and specifically how marine organisms, referred to as protists (such as algae, amoeba, and flagellates) survive.
According to Moniruzzaman, “By better understanding the diversity and role of giant viruses in the ocean and how they interact with algae and other ocean microbes, we can predict and possibly manage harmful algal blooms, which are human health hazards in Florida as well as all over the world,” sciencealert.com reported.
Hundreds of Mysterious Giant Viruses Discovered Lurking in The Ocean… pic.twitter.com/fJnUnuuuqA
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Due to recent intense developments in genome databases, tools of analysis, and computer software, including the software applied in this case, the process of identification of giant viruses is now much less cumbersome than before, therefore providing scientists with new perspectives on how such viruses spread and carry on.
As in the case of giant viruses, frequent killers of phyto planktons, the microscopic photosynthetic organisms that are mostly observed in the oceans, lakes, and rivers.
With such organisms being vital in marine life and food chains as well as generating very large portions of oxygen on earth, then more information about the viruses that attack these organisms would be beneficial in efforts related to the protection of these organisms.
The work also found 569 new functional proteins (nine related to photosynthesis) in addition to the 230 new giant viruses.
It appears that even the photosynthesis processes of the hosts can be hijacked in other situations by the viruses so that they can acquire the energy none of them can live without, as sciencealert.com reported.
Furthermore, “We discovered that giant viruses possess genes involved in cellular functions such as carbon metabolism and photosynthesis – traditionally found only in cellular organisms,” Minch noted.
“This suggests that giant viruses play an outsized role in manipulating their host’s metabolism during infection and influencing marine biogeochemistry,” the expert added.