Jumbo viruses hint at 'fourth domain' of life

The two large viruses, detailed in this week's issue of the journal Science, have been dubbed "Pandoraviruses" because of the surprises they may hold for biologists, in reference to the mythical Greek figure who opened a box and released evil into the world.
The discovery of Pandoraviruses is an indication that our knowledge of Earth's microbial biodiversity is still incomplete, explained study coauthor Jean-Michel Claverie, a virologist at the French National Research Agency at Aix-Marseille University.

I thought this was pretty cool, and decided I should share it with you folks here on ATS.

First, instead of splitting in two like typical bacterium or cells, the Pandoraviruses spawned hundreds of new copies in one cycle. Secondly, they both lacked the genes needed for energy production. Finally, they could not produce proteins without infecting single-celled organisms known as amoebas, which seem to be the Pandoraviruses' preferred hosts.
Further surprises awaited the team when they analyzed the Pandoraviruses' genomes. That of P. dulcis contained about 1,500 genes, while that of P. salinus contained more than 2,500 genes. A typical flu virus can have as few as 10 genes, and M. chilensis has only about 1,000 genes.

Really cool stuff.
I think it is very interesting that these huge viruses seem to only attack Amoebas, it seems counter-intuitive to me. But then thinking about it a little more, I guess it makes sense.

Amoebas are the oldest form of life on the planet, so it stands to reason that viruses effecting them specifically would evolve to grow larger and more complex.

Just throwing this out there, not really supported by anything. But maybe these are the ancestors of "intelligent" viruses we may need to deal with a few million or a billion years from now?

Which raises the question: Are there intelligent races of virus out there in the universe? Or even here on Earth that we don't know about?
Fun to think about.

Source

"The fact that two of them were found almost simultaneously from very distant locations either indicate that we were incredibly lucky," Claverie said, "or that they are not rare."

reply to post by watchitburn



Very interesting. I read an article containing information about these jumbo viruses a while back but it was very vague. This article you are writing about is a lot more complete. It appears they are researching these things yet anyway, even though they don't usually effect humans. That is good, I think the viruses could mutate and start feeding on us and we would be in a sh** Load of trouble. Knowing the ignorance of mankind, we will probable cause it to happen.

I sometimes think that humans are a virus to Earth, one it will eventually kick like the common cold.

reply to post by SouthernForkway26


That is an incredible lie repeated over and over to try and lower the frequency of this planet.

1. Those who designed the human dna, ie. both Source/God and the meddlers, most recent group annanuki/elohim were not so good and downgraded it. They already created their little warring human to try and thwart their progression, and try to keep their slaves. You have to be the fish that goes against the stream to progress, they think. Though I think Mercy will free all soon.

2. Earth is designed for the various humans that have come and gone, and the current civilizations. We're the one in the tests here.

3. The ones they set up to rule over us their hybrid offspring, the so called elites here, the world's mismangement are the ones infecting the earth with the most horrible poisons, toxins, and all to make the biggest profits they can. They design toasters to break down in a couple months and fill the landfill, all the while disempowering their "slaves" and making their lives as miserable as possible. ie you can't always choose between rent and food for your 40 + hour week.

They are the cancer if you have to use a word like that. Dark side infiltrates systems like a trojan horse to lay seige to the progression of souls.

reply to post by watchitburn


This is interesting because some scientists don't even think of viruses as living so this could help settle the issue

reply to post by watchitburn


It is interesting to me that they called one "sweet" (dulcis) and the other "salty" (salinus)...I'm waiting for P. picantus and P. amargus to be discovered. I don't think Linnaeus would have been this frivolous with his naming.

In all honesty it is interesting, but I wonder what made them choose the nomenclature, is one benign and the other abrasive? I'll check the source for more detail.

Edit: And reading the source, as usual clears it up:

Claverie's lab found one of the viruses, Pandoravirus salinus, in sediments collected off the coast of Chile. The other, Pandoravirus dulcis, was lurking in mud in a freshwater pond near Melbourne, Australia.

Salinus - salty water
Dulcis - fresh water (called "sweet water" in other languages, including Latin)

So, my tongue in cheek comment is partially retracted...

Originally posted by Sphota
reply to post by watchitburn

 

It is interesting to me that they called one "sweet" (dulcis) and the other "salty" (salinus)...I'm waiting for P. picantus and P. amargus to be discovered. I don't think Linnaeus would have been this frivolous with his naming.

In all honesty it is interesting, but I wonder what made them choose the nomenclature, is one benign and the other abrasive? I'll check the source for more detail.

Edit: And reading the source, as usual clears it up:

Claverie's lab found one of the viruses, Pandoravirus salinus, in sediments collected off the coast of Chile. The other, Pandoravirus dulcis, was lurking in mud in a freshwater pond near Melbourne, Australia.

Salinus - salty water
Dulcis - fresh water (called "sweet water" in other languages, including Latin)

So, my tongue in cheek comment is partially retracted...

edit on 18-7-2013 by Sphota because: (no reason given)

edit on 18-7-2013 by Sphota because: Wording to clear up understanding

well it was funny... it would be P. Conditus and P. Amarus tho... but it was funny nonetheless!

Originally posted by Unity_99
reply to post by SouthernForkway26

 

That is an incredible lie repeated over and over to try and lower the frequency of this planet.

1. Those who designed the human dna, ie. both Source/God and the meddlers, most recent group annanuki/elohim were not so good and downgraded it. They already created their little warring human to try and thwart their progression, and try to keep their slaves. You have to be the fish that goes against the stream to progress, they think. Though I think Mercy will free all soon.

2. Earth is designed for the various humans that have come and gone, and the current civilizations. We're the one in the tests here.

3. The ones they set up to rule over us their hybrid offspring, the so called elites here, the world's mismangement are the ones infecting the earth with the most horrible poisons, toxins, and all to make the biggest profits they can. They design toasters to break down in a couple months and fill the landfill, all the while disempowering their "slaves" and making their lives as miserable as possible. ie you can't always choose between rent and food for your 40 + hour week.

They are the cancer if you have to use a word like that. Dark side infiltrates systems like a trojan horse to lay seige to the progression of souls.

I am not trying to lower the planets frequency with misinformation (not even clear on what that means). My post was just my opinion, not a statement of a scientific fact. I think that impacts we have on the environment will force us to evolve quickly or we will assuredly cause our own extinction.

Nearly every scientist will disagree with you and say humans have evolved to fit the habitat of the earth. I think we are still evolving to better fit the habitat we(humans) have created for ourselves. Imagine if tomorrow an event happened that caused society to crumble and the world becamè a lawless free-for-all. Different physical and personality traits would become dominant over the ones that are most successful today. There would be a different type of elite ruling the world.

What characteristics would an intelligent virus have? It's hard to imagine a virus being large enough to see with the naked eye.

reply to post by watchitburn

"The fact that two of them were found almost simultaneously from very distant locations either indicate that we were incredibly lucky," Claverie said, "or that they are not rare."

Ockham's Razor this.....

Originally posted by VeritasAequitas
reply to post by watchitburn

 

"The fact that two of them were found almost simultaneously from very distant locations either indicate that we were incredibly lucky," Claverie said, "or that they are not rare."

Ockham's Razor this.....

Easy - They're not that rare.