Ocean virus encodes ribosomal protein

[scruffy]

Scientists have long been interested in viruses that live in the ocean.

Most of them float around freely, infecting targets of opportunity (which don't always equate with the preferred host).

This one, called Flov-SA2, infects a phytoplankton called Florenciella.

Here is what it looks like:

It is among a class of "giant viruses" with about half a million base pairs.

This virus encodes a ribosomal protein called el40 that's almost identical to the homolog in the host.

Challenging Viral Biology: Researchers Discover Mysterious Virus With Ribosomal Protein

A virus that infects ocean phytoplankton was found to encode a ribosomal protein, a first for eukaryotic viruses. Researchers believe this aids the virus in replication. Researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa have identified a virus, FloV-SA2, that encodes one of the essential proteins n

scitechdaily.com

It has about 575 genes. The el40 ribosomal protein is part of the 60S ribosome and has 53 amino acids. It is 85% similar to the host homolog.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/General-characteristics-and-evolutionary-history-of-FloV-SA2-a-Circular-map-of-the_fig1_385194350

Eukaryotic viruses encode the ribosomal protein eL40 - PMC

Viruses in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota are large, complex and have an exceptionally diverse metabolic repertoire. Some encode hundreds of products involved in the translation of mRNA into protein, but none was known to encode any of the proteins ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Dekster]

Scientists have long been interested in viruses that live in the ocean.

Most of them float around freely, infecting targets of opportunity (which don't always equate with the preferred host).

This one, called Flov-SA2, infects a phytoplankton called Florenciella.

Here is what it looks like:

View attachment 1060484

It is among a class of "giant viruses" with about half a million base pairs.

This virus encodes a ribosomal protein called el40 that's almost identical to the homolog in the host.

Challenging Viral Biology: Researchers Discover Mysterious Virus With Ribosomal Protein

A virus that infects ocean phytoplankton was found to encode a ribosomal protein, a first for eukaryotic viruses. Researchers believe this aids the virus in replication. Researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa have identified a virus, FloV-SA2, that encodes one of the essential proteins n

scitechdaily.com

It has about 575 genes. The el40 ribosomal protein is part of the 60S ribosome and has 53 amino acids. It is 85% similar to the host homolog.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/General-characteristics-and-evolutionary-history-of-FloV-SA2-a-Circular-map-of-the_fig1_385194350

Eukaryotic viruses encode the ribosomal protein eL40 - PMC

Viruses in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota are large, complex and have an exceptionally diverse metabolic repertoire. Some encode hundreds of products involved in the translation of mRNA into protein, but none was known to encode any of the proteins ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Well it certainly makes simultaneous abiogenesis seem more likely the origins of life rather then there being a single first organism.

 

[scruffy]

Well it certainly makes simultaneous abiogenesis seem more likely the origins of life rather then there being a single first organism.

Agreed.

Continuous genesis is far more likely than common descent.

It probably becomes "less" likely as organisms become more complex, with the introduction of DNA protection and repair.

 

[toobfreak]

Well it certainly makes simultaneous abiogenesis seem more likely the origins of life rather then there being a single first organism.

What is the difference between a prokaryotic chemoautotroph that arises because of some random success of a viral or other RNA sequence's success at reproducing vs. a single first organism? Don't both follow Darwin's law of evolutionary natural selection?

 

[toobfreak]

Continuous genesis is far more likely than common descent.

And I'll repeat: why must these two things be mutually exclusive? Isn't it more likely that there were a litany of successful experiments with varying degrees of success who then competed with and modified each other until just a few or one highly successful variant emerged? So how would one map out life as a single line of common progenisis?

 

[1srelluc]

So, the Great White has nothing on Flov-SA2.....Got it.

 

[scruffy]

And I'll repeat: why must these two things be mutually exclusive? Isn't it more likely that there were a litany of successful experiments with varying degrees of success who then competed with and modified each other until just a few or one highly successful variant emerged? So how would one map out life as a single line of common progenisis?

No one said they're mutually exclusive. One is a generalization of the other.

For instance - bacteria often have small bits of circular DNA called plasmids, floating around freely inside the cell. These plasmids are exchanged before and during conjugation with other bacteria.

E Coli for example, uses pili for conjugation. Pili are like little hairs that surround the bacterium. They will attach to other bacteria, and also to tissue in a host. The pili are tubular and can transport molecules to the attached endpoint. These molecules are often plasmids. This is one of the ways a bacterium can "infect" its host. E Coli works this way, as does cholera.

Once in the host, the plasmids can replicate and transcribe just like any other DNA. Sometimes these little plasmids can end up becoming viruses if they can co-opt parts of the host cell membrane.

So as you say, primitive life forms can interact with each other and with more evolved organisms, and in turn may create new life forms.