An analysis of the genetic material in the ocean has identified thousands of previously unknown RNA viruses and doubled the number of biological groups of viruses thought to exist, according to a new study published in the journal Science.
The common cold and COVID-19 are two diseases that are caused by the RNA viruses. Plants and animals are important to people.
The viruses have their genetic information in RNA. The rate of evolution of RNA viruses is much quicker than that of DNA viruses. Scientists have cataloged hundreds of thousands of DNA viruses in their natural environment, but they haven't studied the more obscure RNA viruses.
Unlike humans and other organisms that are composed of cells, viruses lack unique short stretches of DNA that could act as a genetic bar code. Trying to distinguish different species of virus in the wild can be difficult without this bar code.
To get around this limitation, we decided to identify the gene that codes for a particularProtein that allows a virus to replicate its genetic material. It is the only part of the viruses that plays a role in how they spread. There are small differences in the gene that codes for theProtein that can help distinguish one type of virus from another.
We screened a global database of the plankton's genes. Plankton are small organisms that swim against the current. They are a vital part of the ocean food web. Over 44,000 genes were identified during our screening.
We had to determine the evolutionary connections between these genes. The more similar the genes were, the more likely the viruses were to be related. The genetic signposts indicating where new viruses may have split off from a common ancestor had been lost to time.
A form of artificial intelligence called machine learning allowed us to detect differences more objectively than if the task were done manually.
The new method organizes the five existing viruses. Zayed et al., Science, 2022.
We doubled the number of known RNA viruses from five to 10 and identified a total of 5,504 new marine RNA viruses.
The Taraviricota, named after the Tara Oceans expeditions, and the Arctiviricota are two of the new phyla that are abundant across vast oceanic regions.
We believe that Taraviricota might be the missing link in the evolution of the two different branches of the same viruses.
There is a map showing the distribution of viruses. Zayed et al., Science, 2022.
The average amount of viruses present in that area is proportional to the wedge size.
Scientists can better understand the evolution of early life on Earth with the help of the new sequence.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has shown that there can be deadly diseases caused byRNA viruses. Because they can affect environments and food webs at the chemical level, RNA viruses are a vital part of the ecosystems.
It is possible to map out where the RNA viruses live in the world to understand how they affect the organisms that run our planet. Improved tools can help researchers catalog new viruses as genetic databases grow.
It's difficult to know what organisms areinfecting new RNA viruses. Due to their genetic complexity and technological limitations, researchers are limited to fragments of incomplete RNA virus genomes.
Our next step would be to figure out how genes change over time. Scientists might be able to better understand how these viruses work by uncovering these genes.
The Ohio State University has a science consultant, a research scientist, a post-doc and a professor.
This article is free to use under a Creative Commons license. The original article is worth a read.
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