Using a specially designed computational tool as a lure, scientists have netted the genomic sequences of almost 12,500 previously uncharacterized viruses from public databases.
ScienceDaily reports on an recently accepted manuscript in eLife:
Finding a treasure trove of new virus genome sequences has opened the door to using those data to identify previously unknown microbial hosts, as well. These new possibilities are attributed to VirSorter, a computational tool [which] scoured public databases of sequenced microbial genomes.
"We can survey a lot of environments to find new viruses, but the challenge has been answering, who do they infect?...[W]e can explore that viral-host linkage. That's a really important part of the equation."
Though viruses are generally thought to take over whatever organism they invade, [we] identified a few viruses, called prophages, which coexist with their host microbes and even produce genes that help the host cells compete and survive.
"That is a really different and largely unexplored phenomenon. [It] appears quite widespread, and virtually nobody is studying these kinds of viruses."
(Score: 1) by eof on Tuesday August 18 2015, @01:54PM
According to their "About" page (last sentence under "Reach–Get Great Exposure):
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 18 2015, @02:03PM
So where is the funding coming from?