A type of freshwater plankton has become the first organism seen to thrive on a diet of viruses, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the United States.
Viruses are often consumed incidentally by a wide range of organisms, and can even spice up the diets of certain marine protists. But to qualify as a true step in the food chain, described as a virovorium, viruses must provide a significant amount of energy or nutrients to their consumer.
Halteria Microbe
The Halteria microbe is a common genus of protist known for fluttering as its hair-like cilia propel it through the water.
Laboratory samples of the ciliate not only consumed the chloroviruses added to their environment, rather, the giant virus fueled the growth of Halteria and increased its population size.
Collateral damage
The spillover effects of widespread consumption of chloroviruses in nature could have a profound impact on the carbon cycle. Known to infect microscopic green algae, chloroviruses cause their hosts to rupturereleasing carbon and other nutrients into the environment, a process that could be limiting in large numbers if they feed on viruses.
“If you multiply a rough estimate of how many viruses there are, how many ciliates there are, and how much water there is, You get this huge amount of energy moving up the food chain.”says ecologist John DeLong of the University. from Nebraska-Lincoln.
“If this is happening on the scale that we think it could be, it should completely change our view of the global carbon cycle.”
Research
The investigation has taken three years to develop and was based on the idea that the large number of viruses and microorganisms that can be found in water may well cause the former to be eaten by the latteralthough there were not many previous studies, which scientists could refer to as a reference.
There are some good things inside viruses if you are an organism looking to feed, including amino acids, nucleic acids, lipids, nitrogen, and phosphorous. Surely something would want to make a meal out of it, the researchers reasoned.