Thomas M Pitot and Catherine GirardViruses play a major role in ecosystems, profoundly influencing microbial community dynamics, matter flow and global biogeochemical cycles.
Yet despite their abundance, many long remained invisible because environmental virologists traditionally isolated them by filtering out larger organisms.
This changed in the early 2000s with the accidental discovery of an atypical, microbe-mimicking virus, eventually named Mimivirus bradfordmassiliense.
This initiated the discovery of “giant” viruses, called Nucleocytoviricota.
Distinguished by their exceptional size, similar to small bacteria, and massive DNA genomes, research now reveals these entities are essential to the resilience of extreme polar environments.
Thomas M Pitot and Catherine Girard
Viruses play a major role in ecosystems, profoundly influencing microbial community dynamics, matter flow and global biogeochemical cycles. Yet despite their abundance, many long remained invisible because environmental virologists traditionally isolated them by filtering out larger organisms.
This changed in the early 2000s with the accidental discovery of an atypical, microbe-mimicking virus, eventually named Mimivirus bradfordmassiliense. This initiated the discovery of “giant” viruses, called Nucleocytoviricota. Distinguished by their exceptional size, similar to small bacteria, and massive DNA genomes, research now reveals these entities are essential to the resilience of extreme polar environments.
