The researchers say this Helteria species can eat a large number of infectious chloroviruses. Interestingly, this organism only eats viruses. Other organisms can also eat other things for food, but the food of the microscopic ciliates is only and only viruses.
Scientists have called organisms that feed on viruses virovore. University of Nebraska-Lincoln microbiologist John DeLong and his team have achieved this success. The researchers also found that when Helteria ate the chlorovirus, the Helteria population began to grow rapidly. Within 2 days, a 15 percent increase in the Helteria population, i.e. Virovori, was observed while the amount of virus decreased.
This study is in its initial stage. Scientists are finding out if this is happening on land other than water. The researchers’ study findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The scientists think that what they found in the water, if it is happening on a large scale, should completely change the idea of the global carbon cycle. The researchers took water from a pond for the study. They observed that the number of chloroviruses decreased by up to 100 times in two days.
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