New virus discovered in the deepest place on the planet

In a post-pandemic world, hearing the expression “new virus” can send a shiver down your spine. When he is unknown, then that is where that fear arises. Now, what if we told you that, in a recent study, scientists found a new virus in the Mariana Trench?

This is the deepest point on planet Earth known to humans to date. It is known that the virus discovered there is a bacteriophage, popularly known simply as “phage”. This is a type of pathogen that infects bacteria and starts to replicate within them.

In this sense, researchers believe that these could be the most abundant organisms on the planet, because wherever there are bacteria, there are also phages.

Apparently, the discovery could be positive. Researchers believe that this virus can help science better understand the diversity of pathogens that exist in the depths of the earth. oceana place still little explored if we stop to think about its immensity.

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Find out more about the discovery of the new virus

The new virus was discovered by a team of international researchers. The phage was deep in the Mariana Trench and was recovered from a depth of around 8,900 meters. One of the study members, Min Wang, explained in a statement that this is, to date, one of the deepest places on earth.

The discovered being was named vB_HmeY_H4907. Scientists believe that it represents a new family of siphoviruses, which have double-stranded DNA. These viruses act by infecting some specific bacteria that are found quite frequently on the seabed and are extremely important in these habitats.

The researchers began a genomic analysis, a process that helps to understand the emergence of a certain phenotype, DNA of the discovered virus, given that phages and bacteria often evolve together.

Therefore, the objective of this study is to find more details about the evolution of these beings and how they are interacting with their hosts.

Analysis results

The results of the analyzes carried out so far show that the phage is distributed in the ocean. However, the new virus evolved differently from the reference viruses used in the research.

In turn, researchers also understood that the virus is lysogenic, that is, it incorporates its own genome from the host’s genome. This means that when the bacteria cell divides, all the genetic material is also copied.

The findings may show that both organisms become capable of replicating in harsh aquatic environments. Finally, the researchers state that new studies will be necessary to find out more details about the evolution of this new virus.