Researchers discover numerous giant viruses lurking in the ocean
Researchers discover numerous giant viruses lurking in the ocean
Latin Press
La Jornada Newspaper, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, p. 6
Washington. In a study spanning the entire oceans, researchers from the University of Miami discovered hundreds of giant viruses previously unknown to science.
The research used custom-made software to identify the genomes of microbes in seawater samples, including 230 unexplored giant viruses, Nature npj Viruses reported.
For experts, identifying these viruses is crucial to understanding life in the ocean, and in particular the survival of marine organisms known as protists, such as algae, amoebas, and flagellates.
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 control harmful algal blooms, which pose a risk to human health
, according to virologist Mohammad Moniruzzaman.
With rapid advances in genomic databases, analytical tools, and software programs like those used in this research, the process of discovering giant viruses is now much simpler than before, giving scientists new insights into how they behave and spread.
Giant viruses, for example, often cause the death of phytoplankton, the tiny photosynthetic organisms commonly found in oceans, lakes, and rivers.
These organisms are crucial to marine life and food chains, and produce huge amounts of terrestrial oxygen, so better understanding the viruses that attack them could contribute to protection efforts.
In addition to the 230 newly detected giant viruses, the study also identified 569 new functional proteins, including nine involved in photosynthesis.
Everything indicates that, in some cases, viruses are capable of hijacking the photosynthetic functions of their hosts to obtain the energy needed to survive.
The researchers managed to classify the giant viruses they discovered into two existing viral orders: Imitervirales and Algavirales .
These groups use different infection strategies, with the Imitervirales being the most genetically complex, indicating a more flexible life strategy that potentially allows the virus to survive in a wider variety of hosts.
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