- Scientists discover ‘giant viruses’ while exploring Greenland glacier
- They believe they could help mitigate ice melt caused by algal blooms
The idea of ​​a giant virus lurking on a vast ice sheet might sound like the plot of the latest sci-fi blockbuster.
However, it became a reality after researchers discovered giant viruses while exploring the Greenland ice sheet.
Before you panic that viruses could cause another pandemic, we have good news.
Scientists at Aarhus University say viruses could actually be a good thing.
“We don’t know much about viruses, but I think they could be useful as a way to moderate the melting of ice caused by algal blooms,” said Laura Perini, who led the study.
Click here to resize this module
On the Greenland ice sheet, the algae lay dormant on the ice until spring, when they begin to bloom and blacken large areas of the ice.
When the ice turns black, its ability to reflect the sun decreases and this accelerates the melting of the ice, thereby exacerbating global warming.
However, scientists believe that the newly discovered giant viruses could help the growth of snow algae – and possibly limit the melting of the ice in the long term.
“How specific [the viruses] they are and how effective it would be, we don’t know yet,” said Ms. Perini.
“But by investigating them further, we hope to answer some of these questions.”
Giant viruses were first discovered in 1981 when researchers found them in the ocean.
These viruses specialized in infecting green algae in the sea.
Later, giant viruses were found in soil on land and even in humans.
Click here to resize this module
However, this new discovery is the first time giant viruses have been found living on the surface of ice and snow, which is dominated by microalgae, according to Ms Perini.
“We analyzed samples from dark ice, red snow and melting holes (cryoconite),” she said.
“We found signs of active giant viruses in both the dark ice and red snow.
“And this is the first time they have been found on surface ice and snow that contain large amounts of pigmented microalgae.
“A few years ago, everyone thought this part of the world was barren and lifeless. But today we know that several microorganisms live there – including giant viruses.
“There’s a whole ecosystem around the algae.” In addition to bacteria, filamentous fungi, and yeasts, there are protists that eat the algae, various types of fungi that parasitize them, and giant viruses that we’ve found that infect them.
“To understand the biological controls acting on algal blooms, we need to study these last three groups.”
Because giant viruses are a relatively recent discovery, not much is known about them.
Unlike most other viruses, they have many active genes that allow them to repair, replicate, transcribe and translate DNA.
But why this is so and what exactly they use it for is unknown.
“Which one hosts the giant viruses that infect, we can’t exactly link. Some of them can infect protists, while others attack snow algae. We just can’t be sure yet,” Ms. Perini said.
Scientist are working hard to discover more about giant viruses and more research will be published soon.
“We are continuing to study the giant viruses to learn more about their interactions and exactly what their role is in the ecosystem,” she added.
“Later this year, we will publish another scientific paper with more information about the giant viruses infecting cultured microalgae thriving on the surface ice of the Greenland Ice Sheet.”