MOSCOW, September 21 A new virus, called vB_HmeY_H4907, was discovered at a record depth of 8.9 thousand meters in the Mariana Trench, follows from a report published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.
«The temperate phage vB_HmeY_H4907 was found to infect Halomonas meridiana H4907, isolated from surface sediments of the Mariana Trench at a depth of 8900 meters. To our knowledge, this is the most deeply isolated siphovirus from the ocean,» the study authors write.
The new virus is a bacteriophage that infects only bacterial cells. They are the most abundant life forms on the planet and play an important role in ocean ecology. The detected virus is not capable of infecting humans.
Scientists believe vB_HmeY_H4907 may become widespread in the marine environment, despite the fact that it was only recently discovered. The data obtained will provide new insight into the genomic, phylogenetic and ecological characteristics of a new viral family, namely Suviridae, the study notes.