What is Virovore?
26-08-2023
10:37 AM
1 min read
Overview:
Recently, a microbiologist from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the United States found the first known organism that eats viruses.
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