A never-before-seen virus has been discovered lying in the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench.
Plunging 11,000 metres below the surface of the Pacific Ocean at its lowest point, the murky depths of the trench between Indonesia and Japan are home to myriad weird and wonderful creatures, including the seadevil anglerfish and goblin shark.
It is also home to billions of microscopic residents – bacteria – and some of those are infected with a newly discovered virus.
‘Wherever there’s life, you can bet there are regulators at work,’ said Dr Min Wang, who led a new study of the trench. ‘Viruses, in this case.’
The virus, discovered in sediment collected at 8,900 metres deep, is a bacteriophage, which literally means ‘bacteria eater’. The virus infects and replicates inside bacteria, but in this case does not appear to kill its host. As the bacteria cell divides, the viral genetic material is also copied and passed on.
This means the new find is no threat to people, because it does not attack human cells.
‘To our best knowledge, this is the deepest known isolated phage in the global ocean,’ said Dr Wang.
Bacteriophages are thought to be the most abundant lifeforms on Earth – although debate still rages over whether viruses are alive or not.
The new virus, catchily named vB_HmeY_H4907, infects a group of bacteria known as Halomonas, which are often found in sediments from the deep seas and from hydrothermal vents, openings on the seafloor that release streams of heated water.
Dr Wang said the findings point to new questions and research areas focused on the survival strategies of viruses in harsh, secluded environments – and how they co-evolve with their hosts.
The team identified the new virus using DNA analysis, which shows it is only distantly related to other viruses.
The study also suggests the existence of a previously unknown viral family in the deep sea – possibly beyond the confines of the trench – named Suviridae.
The search continues for other new viruses in extreme places, ‘which would contribute to broadening our comprehension of the virosphere’ said Dr Wang.
‘Extreme environments offer optimal prospects for unearthing novel viruses.’
The study is published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.
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