In 2013, a significant discovery was made on a beach in Santiago, Chile, where members of the Pandoravirus family were found. These giant, amphora-shaped viruses, which infect amoebas, possess more genes than any other known virus. The identification of three new members of this family may help us understand why they are so large and could lead us to the origins of all viruses.
The group of giant viruses known as pandoraviruses has grown with the discovery of three new members in Nouméa, Melbourne, and Marseille, according to a new study by French researchers. The research highlights that despite structural and functional similarities, the six known examples of these viral behemoths share surprisingly few genes. Published in Nature Communications, the researchers suggest an explanation: pandoraviruses could be factories of new genes—and therefore new functions.
“With these three additions, we can now say that giant viruses are not rare; they can be found all over the Earth,” states Jean-Michel Claverie, a researcher at the Structural and Genomic Information Laboratory of the Mediterranean Institute of Microbiology in Marseille.
Giant viruses are characterized by a large number of genes encoding proteins (averaging 1,500 for pandoraviruses compared to about ten for typical viruses). Indeed, Pandoraviruses have large genomes to match their significant size. The current record-holder is Pandoravirus salinus, which boasts a total of 2,473 kilobase pairs. But why carry such a heavy genetic load when evolution tends to favor other viruses to be more streamlined? A clue might lie in the nature of these genes. Previous research showed that only 7% of these genes correspond to those found in other organisms, suggesting a distinctly different evolutionary path.
Genes unique to each branch of the tree of life are described as “orphan” genes. It is unusual to see so many orphan genes in a single organism. The recent discovery of two new Pandoravirus species could finally allow for detailed comparisons. However, it is known that these genes differ from one virus to another. “This means there is no common history for these genes; they could not have been inherited from a common ancestor,” continues the researcher. “We must therefore conclude that these are inventions, genes that appear by chance and thus differ from one strain to another.”
This revolutionary hypothesis suggests that giant viruses are craftsmen of genetic creativity, which is a central element in all concepts of the origin of life and its evolution.
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With a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, Sarah delves into the complexities of scientific breakthroughs and explains their significance in an accessible way.
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