• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Strange New Viruses Found In Ocean Are Like Nothing Ever Seen Before

April 21, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

A totally new type of virus has been found living on the sunlit surface of the seas and oceans. Dubbed mirusviruses – “mirus” meaning wonderful or strange in Latin – the microbes are related to both giant viruses and herpesviruses. As such, the discovery might help to illuminate the murky evolutionary history of herpes.

In a new study, scientists detailed the discovery of mirusviruses and explain that they belong to a realm of viruses called Duplodnaviria. This is a large type of double-stranded DNA viruses that includes herpesviruses like the herpes simplex virus.

Advertisement

Fortunately for us, mirusviruses are not interested in humans and tend to only infect single-celled plankton. This does suggest, however, that the ancestors of herpesviruses once infected marine single-cell organisms. That’s a fairly humble beginning considering that herpes has since managed to infect half of humanity.

Although their evolutionary heritage links back to herpesviruses, the majority of mirusvirus genes are similar to those of giant viruses (literally just really big viruses). Nevertheless, the researchers say this never-before-seen band of viruses is pretty unique. 

“Mirusviruses substantially deviate from all other previously characterized groups of DNA viruses,” the study authors conclude.

“The discovery of Mirusviricota is a reminder that we have not yet grasped the full ecological and evolutionary complexity of even the most abundant double-stranded DNA viruses in key ecosystems such as the surface of our oceans and seas,” they add. 

Advertisement

The new viruses were found by trawling through data gathered by the Tara Ocean expedition. This project collected over 35,000 samples of viruses, algae, and plankton from over 200 different locations worldwide. 

They also sequenced their genetic material, providing scientists with a plethora of data to pore over – and plenty of opportunities to discover new species. 

“In 2019, our research team observed an unusual evolutionary signal in the massive amounts of sequencing data provided by the Tara Oceans project. By tracking this signal, we discovered and then characterized a major DNA virus group: mirusviruses. The publication of this discovery in Nature marks the start of a new adventure and a gateway for the scientific community to detect and study mirusviruses in any number of ecosystems,” Tom Delmont, study author and expert in microbial ecology at the French National Center for Scientific Research, said in a statement. 

“Tara Oceans has transformed our understanding of plankton ecology. Our study proves that this incredible expedition also provides answers to fundamental evolutionary questions. Much remains to be discovered and understood about mirusviruses. They have yet to be cultivated, no images of their viral particle exist, and we have yet to study them in places other than the oceans!” added Morgan Gaïa, study first author.

Advertisement

The study is published in the journal Nature. 

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Texas city to offer Samsung large property tax breaks to build $17 billion chip plant
  2. U.S. sanctions several Hong Kong-based Chinese entities over Iran -website
  3. Asian stocks fall to near 1-year low as oil prices stoke inflation worries
  4. “Unique” Medieval Christian Art Discovered By Accident In Sudan Desert

Source Link: Strange New Viruses Found In Ocean Are Like Nothing Ever Seen Before

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • A “Super-Earth” In The Habitable Zone Is Half The Distance To Comparable Worlds
  • Adorable But Critically Endangered Bornean Orangutan Born In Conservation Success
  • How Did The FDA Settle On The “2,000 Calories Per Day” Guideline?
  • Comet 3I/ATLAS Losing At Least Two Kangaroos’ Worth Of Dust Every Second
  • Mummified Dinosaur Duo Prove They Had Hooves, Marking “The First Confirmed Hooved Reptile”
  • What Do The Numbers On Your Toaster Really Mean?
  • NASA Vs. Elon Musk: Is A Moon Landing This Decade Off The Cards?
  • Scientists Explored Some Of The Deepest Parts Of The Ocean And Spotted Some Seriously Weird Deep-Sea Creatures
  • 500-Meter-Tall Megatsunami Struck Remote Alaskan Fjord After Massive Landslide
  • 3I/ATLAS, CKM Syndrome, And Mosquitoes’ Final Frontier
  • Male Humpback Dolphins Spotted Wearing Sea Sponge “Wigs” To Woo The Ladies
  • Can’t Sleep? The Military Sleep Trick That Helps You Fall Asleep in Just 2 Minutes
  • Why You Should Really, Really Not Eat Dolphin Meat
  • Odd Flashes Of Light On The Moon Have Been Recorded For Over A Thousand Years. What Are They?
  • The New York Times Said Machines Wouldn’t Fly For A Million Years (69 Days Before The First Flight)
  • IFLScience The Big Questions: Why Do People Believe In The Paranormal?
  • What Is “Japanese Walking”, And Should You Be Doing It?
  • AI Chatbots Found To Violate Ethical Standards When It Comes To Mental Health Discussions
  • Finding The Last Saolas: The Hunt For One Of The World’s Rarest Mammals Is On
  • This Is What People Actually See When They Have A Near-Death Experience
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version