Scientists have found anomalously large viruses at the bottom of the Mariana Trench

A group of Chinese researchers, as part of the Challenger Deep mission, recovered from the deepest point of the planet

sediments.Scientists found viruses in them, including giant species. The study authors note that their size exceeded the size of some bacteria, which is very unusual. Although mimiviruses were found in other places, they appeared to be more abundant at a depth of 11 km. As is known, the pressure in this area is 1,100 times higher than atmospheric pressure.

Mimiviruses are a genus of viruses that includeis the only species of Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV), and their hosts are amoeba of the genus Acanthamoeba. Unlike most other viruses, mimivirus does not pass through a filter with a pore diameter of 0.22 microns and is visible under a light microscope.

The population of mimiviruses at the bottom of the depression isapproximately 4% of the total viral population. Also, along with the sediments, scientists extracted 15 other types of viruses and more than 100 bacteria of different types from the ocean floor. In addition to its abnormal size, mimivirus is distinguished from other pathogens by a very complex genome - it contains more than 1.2 million base pairs. For comparison, the genome of the new type of coronavirus that triggered the COVID-19 pandemic is almost 40 times shorter. Scientists emphasize that the effect of mimiviruses on mammals is still only being studied in laboratory conditions.

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