Better understanding of the diversity and abundance of viruses in the world’s oceans will help explain the role of marine microbes in ocean adaptation to climate change, say study authors
In an important new discovery, a scientific team has identified 5,500 new species of RNA viruses in the oceans in samples collected around the world, which has led researchers to propose more categories to classify them and adequately capture their diversity.
“Ocean water samples collected throw up a treasure trove of new data about these viruses, expanding the possibilities for ecological research and reshaping our understanding of how these small but important submicroscopic particles evolvedAccording to the scientists, who publish their findings in the journal Science.
The ARN virus son “clearly important in our world”, but usually only a small part of them are studied: the few hundred that harm humans, plants and animals. 5,500 new species of RNA viruses In this research, scientists wanted to systematically study them on a large scale and explore an environment that no one had analyzed in depth: “We were lucky because practically all the species were new, and many were really new.”notes a note from the Ohio State University.
Combining machine learning analyzes with traditional evolutionary trees, the team identified 5,500 new species of RNA viruses, of which hundreds can be included in the five known phyla of viruses of this type; the researchers suggest that at least five new phyla would be needed to encompass them all.
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The most abundant collection of newly discovered species has been grouped in the “Taraviricota” phylum, proposed as new by the researchers.
“ecologically important”
It is a nod to the source of the 35,000 water samples that enabled the analysis: the Tara Oceans Consortium, an ongoing global study of the impact of climate change on the world’s oceans, aboard the schooner Tara.
“There is a lot of new diversity here and an entire phylum, the ‘Taraviricota’, was found in all oceans, suggesting that they are ‘ecologically important’.summarizes Matthew Sullivan, lead author of the study and a researcher at Ohio State University.
While microbes make a unique contribution to all life on the planet, the viruses that infect and interact with them have a wide variety of influences on microbial function. These types of viruses are thought to have three main functions: kill cells, change the way infected cells handle energy, and transfer genes from one host to another.
Learn more about the diversity and abundance of viruses in the world’s oceans will help explain the role of marine microbes in the ocean’s adaptation to climate change, say the study’s authors.
The oceans absorb half of the carbon dioxide generated by humans from the atmosphere and previous research by this group had suggested that marine viruses they are the “button” of a biological bomb affecting carbon storage in the ocean.
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