Virosphere | Mysite

Session # 101 Mon 16 May 2022:

"An Astrobiology Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe” (NAS) calls for informational heteropolymer investigations, including DNA/RNA, as essential in biosignature detection. Viruses (RNA or DNA) as single- or double-stranded forms, are a possible model for a putative RNA World. Recent viral ecology shows viruses are highly diverse, extremely abundant, and infect all three life domains. Viruses’ roles in recent evolution are unambiguous and extremely influential with viral-mediated gene transfer events moving ~1029 genes/day and viruses likely played important roles in early evolution. Additionally, viruses may have played pivotal roles in the formation of early atmospheres via viral-encoded auxiliary metabolic genes, impacting the quality and quantity of cellular metabolic outputs, some of which are possible biosignatures. Moreover, viruses organize proteins to form unique particles that could be novel biosignatures. This session welcomes work on the preservation of informational heteropolymers, viruses, and ‘molecular parasites’."

Earth's Virosphere

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Abrahão, J. et al. 2018. Tailed giant Tupanvirus possesses the most complete translational apparatus of the known virosphere. Nat. Comm. 9:749

Dell'Anno, A., C. Corinaldesi, R. Danovaro 2015. Virus decomposition provides an important contribution to benthic deep-sea ecosystem functioning. PNAS 112(16):2014-2019.

Fridman, S. et al, 2017. A myovirus encoding both photosystem I and II proteins enhances cyclic electron flow in infected Prochlorococcus cells. Nat. Microbiol. 2:1350-1357.

He, T., H. Li, X. Zhang 2017. Deep-sea hydrothermal vent viruses compensate for microbial metabolism in virus-host interactions. mBio 8:e00893-17.

Iranzo, J., E.V. Koonin, D. Prangishvili, M. Krupovic 2016. Bipartite network analysis of the archaeal virosphere: evolutionary connections between viruses and capsidless mobile elements. J. Virology 90(24): 11043-11055.

Krupovic, M., V. Dolja, E. Koonin 2019. Origin of viruses: primordial replicators recruiting capsids from hosts. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 17(7):449-458.

Legendre, M. et al. 2018. Diversity and evolution of the emerging Pandoraviridae family. Nat. Comm. 9:2285.

Lossouarn, J., S. Dupont, A. Gorlas, C. Mercier, N. Bienvenu, E. Marguet, P. Forterre, C. Geslin 2015. An abyssal mobilome: viruses, plasmids and vesicles from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Res. Microbiol. 166(10): 742-752.

McHugh, C.A., J. Fontana, D. Nemecek, N. Cheng, A. Aksyuk, J.B. Heymann, D.C. Winkler, A.S. Lam, J.S. Wall, A.C. Steven, E. Hoiczyk 2014. A virus capsid-like nanocompartment that stores iron and protects bacteria from oxidative stress. EMBO J. 33:1896-1911.

Prangishvili, D. Bamford, P. Forterre, J. Iranzo, E.V. Koonin, M. Krupovic 2017. The enigmatic archaeal virosphere. Nat. Comm. 15:724-739.

Wolf, Y.I., D. Kazlauskas, J. Iranzo, A. Lucía-Sanz, J.H. Kuhn, M. Krupovic, V.V. Dolja, E.V. Koonin 2018. Origins and evolution of the global RNA virome. mBio 9(6):e02329.

Yutin, N., D. Bäckström, T.J.G. Ettema, M. Krupovic, E.V. Koonin 2018. Vast diversity of prokaryotic virus genomes encoding double jelly-roll major capsid proteins uncovered by genomic and metagenomic sequence analysis. Virology J. 15:67.

Emergence of Life and Earth's Biosphere

Review and analysis of scientific research and theory bearing on knowledge of Earth’s protogeobiosphere, origins and evolution of protobiont complexity, and emergence of life in the cosmos.