Researchers may have discovered the first ‘virovore,’ or organism that consumes viruses. Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the United States revealed that two planktonic organisms termed Halteria and Paramecium may not only feed on viruses but also grow by ingesting them. Their discovery was published last week in the PNAS journal.
According to ScienceDirect, there are a number of additional organisms that unintentionally swallow viruses. For this behaviour to be considered virovory and included in the food chain, the consumption must provide the consumer with a sizable amount of energy and nutrients, as a species of Halteria does.
The research, which has been three years in the making, was looking to find if any microbes actively ate viruses and whether such a diet could support the physiological and population growth of a community which in this case it did.
The microbe in question, Halteria, is a microscopic ciliate that lives in freshwater.
‘They are made up of really good stuff: nucleic acids, a lot of nitrogen and phosphorous,’ said John DeLong, an ecologist from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who with his team made the discovery.
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