scientist say they have found a virus in the coastal water off Oahu , Hawaii that has some unusual characteristics .
The team from Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography : Research and Education ( C - MORE ) at the University of Hawai’i ( UH ) at M?noa described the determination in the journalVirology .
Named TetV-1 , it infects individual - celled algae calledTetraselmis . It ’s so self-aggrandizing that it rivals bacteria in size , put it in the grapheme of “ giant virus ” . More and more of these bombastic form have been found in the last 15 twelvemonth , increasing their known sizes .
“ Most virus are so tiny that we require an negatron microscope to see them , ” Grieg Steward , prof in the UH M?noa Department of Oceanography and atomic number 27 - author on the study , allege in astatement . “ [ B]ut these giants rival bacteria in size , and their genome often encipher for purpose we have never seen in virus before . ”
In the subject , the team sequenced the genome of the virus and found that it had a issue of gene pick up fromTetraselmis . This let in two genes related to the process of fermentation , which is how microorganisms get energy from sugars .
It ’s not quite clear why the virus has these genes , but it may be that the alga turns the water from clear blue to light-green . The ferment factor may therefore admit TetV to thrive in these low O conditions , with it finding a home inside algae .
“ The TetV genome is the large sequenced to date for a computer virus that infects a photosynthetic being , and its factor reveal unprecedented chemical mechanism by which viruses manipulate their host ’s metamorphosis , ” the team write in their report .
Researching viruses like this is important , as they can have a striking effect on the food source of animals . They can spread through populations of phytoplankton , causing their jail cell to decompose and decompose . Tetraselmis itself is a food source , and also a source of amylum for the biofuel industry .
“ That sounds bad , ” said Steward , “ but virus actually aid maintain balance in the marine ecosystem . Viruses spread more expeditiously through highly concentrated universe , so if one type of phytoplankton grow faster than the others and starts to dominate , it can get pick apart down to lower levels by a viral contagion , apply the other mintage a chance to thrive . ”
The team now plan to carry out field and laboratory experiment to see if their hypothesis about the computer virus cistron is correct . But , they note , it is likely just one of millions of other computer virus that are awaiting find .
