What is Virovore?

What is Virovore?

• The organisms which eat viruses are called virovore.
• It has been identified as an actual species of protist that feasts on viruses.
• These virus-eating species of protists which are their kingdom on the tree of life and are not an animal, plants, 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 protists 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.
• These organisms can sustain themselves with viruses, consuming many and growing in size.
• The new findings may change our understanding of the role viruses play in the food chain at a microscopic level.

Q1) What is Virus?

It is a parasite having nucleic acid, protein, and lipid particles that infect and proliferate in living cells. They have a DNA or RNA core surrounded by a capsid, which is a protein covering.

Source: What is ‘virovore’: An organism that eats viruses discovered

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