Important Facts For Prelims
Virovore
- 04 Jan 2023
- 2 min read
Why in News?
Researchers have found the first known "Virovore," or organism that eats viruses.
- The new findings may change our understanding of the role viruses play in the food chain at a microscopic level.
What is Virovore?
- It has been identified as an actual species of protist that feasts on viruses.
- These virus-eating species of protists — which are their own kingdom on the tree of life and are not an animal, plant, or fungi — are now classified as Virovores.
- It is a species of Halteria - microscopic ciliates that populate freshwater worldwide.
- The microbe Halteria is a common genus of protist known to flit about as its hair-like cilia propel it through the water.
- They're made up of nucleic acids, nitrogen, and phosphorus. It can eat huge numbers of infectious chloroviruses that share their aquatic habitat.
- Chloroviruses are known to infect microscopic green algae.
- These organisms can sustain themselves with viruses, consuming many and growing in size.
- A virus-only diet, termed "virovory," is enough to fuel the physiological growth and even population growth of an organism.
