Most viruses were previously unknown to humans, study results
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Research news
PICTURE: YAO TANDONG, LEFT, AND LONNIE THOMPSON, RIGHT, PROCESS AN ICE CORE DRILLED FROM THE GULIYA ICE CAP ON THE TIBETAN PLATEAU in 2015. THE ICE LASTED VIRUSES ALMOST 15,000 YEARS … Show more
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists studying glacial ice have found viruses that are nearly 15,000 years old in two ice samples from the Tibetan Plateau in China. Most of these viruses that survived because they were frozen are different from any virus cataloged so far.
The results, published today in the journal Microbiome, could help scientists understand how viruses evolved over centuries. For this study, the scientists also developed a new, ultra-clean method to analyze microbes and viruses in the ice without contaminating it.
“These glaciers formed gradually, and in addition to dust and gases, many, many viruses were also deposited in this ice,” said Zhi-Ping Zhong, lead author of the study and a researcher at Ohio State University’s Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, said the same focused on microbiology. “The glaciers in western China are not well studied, and our goal is to use this information to reflect the surroundings of the past. And viruses are part of these environments. “
The researchers analyzed ice cores taken from the Guliya ice cap in western China in 2015. The cores are collected at great heights – the summit of Guliya, where this ice was formed, is 22,000 feet above sea level. The ice cores contain layers of ice that accumulate year after year, trapping whatever was in the atmosphere around them as each layer froze. These layers form a kind of timeline that scientists have used to understand more about climate change, microbes, viruses, and gases throughout history.
Researchers found the ice was nearly 15,000 years old using a combination of traditional and new, novel techniques to date this ice core.
When analyzing the ice, they found genetic codes for 33 viruses. Four of these viruses have already been identified by the scientific community. But at least 28 of them are new. About half of them appeared to have survived when they were frozen, not in spite of the ice but because of it.
“These are viruses that would thrive in extreme environments,” said Matthew Sullivan, study co-author, professor of microbiology at Ohio State and director of the Ohio State Center of Microbiome Science. “These viruses have signatures of genes that help them infect cells in cold environments – just surreal genetic signatures for how a virus can survive in extreme conditions. These are not simple signatures, and the method Zhi-Ping developed to decontaminate the cores and examine microbes and viruses in the ice could help us look for these genetic sequences in other extreme icy environments – Mars to the For example the moon, or closer to home in the Atacama desert of the earth. “
Viruses don’t share a common, universal gene, so naming a new virus – and trying to figure out where it fits in the landscape of known viruses – takes several steps. To compare unidentified viruses with known viruses, scientists compare sets of genes. Known virus gene sets are cataloged in scientific databases.
These database comparisons showed that four of the viruses in the Guliya ice cap cores had previously been identified and came from virus families that typically infect bacteria. The researchers found the viruses in much lower concentrations than previously detected in oceans or soils.
The researchers’ analysis found that the viruses likely came from the soil or plants, rather than animals or humans, based on the environment and databases of known viruses.
Research into viruses in glaciers is relatively new: only two previous studies have identified viruses in ancient glacier ice. But it’s a science that is becoming increasingly important as climate change changes, said Lonnie Thompson, lead author on the study, distinguished university professor of earth sciences at Ohio State, and lead researcher at the Byrd Center.
“We know very little about viruses and microbes in these extreme environments and what actually exists,” said Thompson. “Documentation and understanding of it is extremely important: How do bacteria and viruses react to climate change? What happens when we move from an ice age to a warm period like the one we have now? “
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This study was an interdisciplinary effort between the Ohio State Byrd Center and their Center for Microbiome Science. The 2015 Guliya ice cores were collected and analyzed as part of a collaborative program between the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, funded by the US National Science Foundation and the Chinese Academy of Sciences . Funding also came from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the US Department of Energy.
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