For the first time, researchers have discovered viruses that attach to other viruses. See what they look like.
Scientists have discovered viruses that can latch onto other viruses and insert their genes into host cells. The strange interaction was observed for the first time during laboratory research. write New Atlas.
Viruses are known to infect cells of host organisms such as animals, plants, and even bacteria. But there were no previously known cases of them physically attaching to other viruses. The closest connection exists between helper viruses and satellite viruses, where the latter needs the help of the former to survive, the source clarifies.
The discovery was made as part of a routine student project in which bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—are isolated from environmental samples and sent to laboratories for sequencing. One sample was expected to contain DNA from a virus called MindFlayer, but analysis showed contamination with unknown DNA. Repeated experiments gave the same results.
To figure out what was going on, scientists began examining the samples using a transmission electron microscope. To their surprise, they discovered that the MindFlayer phage had a small satellite virus (dubbed MiniFlayer) attached to its neck.
The case turned out to be far from isolated: 80% of the observed phages, or 40 out of 50, had an attached satellite phage. Others had “tendrils” indicating that they had been bound by them in the past.
“When I saw this, I thought, ‘I can’t believe this,'” says study author Tagid de Carvalho. “No one has ever seen a bacteriophage—or any other virus—attach to another virus.”
Unlike all other known viruses, MiniFlayer lacked a gene that helped it integrate into the host’s DNA. This means that it will need to stay close to its mate MindFlayer in order to reproduce inside the host cell.
Look at the best pictures of the microcosm:
2023-11-06 09:37:35
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