The newly discovered giant jellyfish virus turned amoeba into "stone"

A description of the newly discovered jellyfish virus. Ji Chuan et al./Journal of Virology.2019 (CC by 4.0) is like a mythical monster jellyfish. A newly discovered giant virus has turned its host into a "stone". Fortunately, however, its host is amoeba.

Now it is called jellyfish virus because of its mysterious power. This strange virus was extracted from muddy water in a hot spring in Japan. According to a new study, it was published in the February 6th issue of the Journal of Virology. Jellyfish virus belongs to a kind of virus called "giant virus". Compared with most other viruses, their genomes are extremely large.

This virus infects single-celled organisms called Acanthamoeba Castellani, an amoeba. When the researchers infected the amoeba in a laboratory Petri dish, they found that the virus caused the amoeba to grow thick shells and enter a dormant state called cysts. This behavior reminds researchers of the mythical monster Medusa. According to Greek mythology, Medusa could turn bystanders into stones with her eyes. [Virus Transmission: Six New Discoveries about Viruses]

Although the head of this virus is not all twisted snakes, researchers found an equally amazing and unique feature on the outer surface of jellyfish virus: according to research, more than 2,600 spherical head nails were led by researchers from Kyoto University and tokyo institute of technology. The virus is very different from other giant viruses, and researchers suggest that it be classified into a new family: jellyfish virus family.

Interestingly, some genes of jellyfish virus were also found in its amoeba host. The researchers said that this shows that jellyfish viruses have been infecting these amoeba protozoa since "ancient times", and these two microorganisms have undergone gene exchange during evolution.

"Jellyfish virus is a unique giant virus, which still retains the ancient footprint of evolutionary interaction between virus and host." A statement.

Scientists plan to continue to study jellyfish viruses, hoping to further uncover the evolutionary history of viruses and cells.

Magnificent microphotography: 50 tiny miracles and 8 terrible parasitic infections will give you goose bumps. The nine deadliest viruses on earth were first published on Live.