Virovore: A creature that has come to destroy Corona..!?

Sowmiya Sriram
Virovore: A creature that has come to destroy Corona..!?
Scientists have discovered a creature that eats viruses. The three-year research focused on whether microbes actively feed on viruses and how that relates to the physiology and population growth of the community. Research on "predators" or organisms that feed on viruses has been successful. For the first time, researchers have identified this organism. In research conducted by scientists at the university of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, they found that Halteria and Paramecium, two plankton organisms (Virovore), eat viruses as food and thus thrive. This has fueled the belief that the time to worry about viruses is on the upswing. What if we increased the organism that tasted and ate the virus? As this is thought-provoking research to move to the next level, in the future, the risk of viruses like Corona may decrease.
A paper on the research was published last week in the journal PNAS. There are so many organisms that naturally consume viruses that, if they are to be counted in the food chain, eating viruses must gain significant amounts of energy and nutrients. Those organisms are called viruses.The three-year research focused on whether microbes actively feed on viruses and how that relates to the physiology and population growth of the community. They are made of very good stuff like nucleic acids, lots of nitrogen, and phosphorus. john DeLong, an ecologist from the university of Nebraska-Lincoln, conducted the research with his team.
A ubiquitous virus:
Since these organisms eat viruses, they must have learned something about how to eat good raw materials. As mentioned earlier, viruses are so ubiquitous that they are accidentally eaten all the time, however, for this study, the researchers chose a 'chlorovirus' that is prevalent with freshwater algae. Additionally, the research also notes different patterns of food consumption between Halteria and Paramecium. The Halteria organism used the chlorovirus as a source of nutrients. That said, Paramecium didn't grow much when it ingested the viruses. Additionally, research has revealed that the consumption of chloroviruses can have a profound effect on the carbon cycle.

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