The cold storage of melting permafrost is a place where ancient creatures have emerged, almost as if it were a horror film.
Megafauna extinctes like the have been remarkably preserved. Woolly rhinoTo the 40,000-year old remains of a Giant Wolf?, and Bacteria over 750,000 years of age.
All of these things may not be dead.
The moss is centuries-oldThe laboratory’s warmth enabled it to spring back into life. Also, the cells were extremely tiny Roundworms that are 42,000 years old.
These amazing glimpses of organisms from Earth’s distant past reveal the history of ancient ecosystems and the environments they lived in.
The melt has raised some questions. Anti-ViralsWe are coming back to our aid.
“Melting won’t only result in the loss of these ancient, archived microbes but also a lot more. Viral infectionsResearchers also recommend that they be released to their natural environments in the future.” In a study published last year, it was clearly explained.Zhiping Zhong, Ohio State University’s microbiologist and first author, will lead the group.
Researchers are now able to better understand the cold through metagenomics and new ways to sterilize their ice core samples.
The study allowed the team to identify dozens of 15,000-year-old viruses in the Guliya Ice Cap of the Tibetan Plateau and gain insight into their functions.
“These glaciers formed slowly, and many, many viruses were also deposited within that ice, along with gases and dust.” Zhong. The team explained that these microbes could represent other microbes in the atmosphere at the time they were deposited in their paper.
Past studiesStudies have shown that microbial communities are linked to changes in dust and ions in the atmosphere. This can also be used as a way to determine climate and environmental conditions.
The researchers found that 28 of 33 viruses they had identified were not previously known. They located the records at 6.7 km (22,000 feet) above the sea level in China.
“These viruses thrive in extreme environments.” Ohio State University microbiologist Matthew Sullivan, with “signatures of genes that help them infect cells in cold environments – just surreal genetic signatures for how a ViralCan survive in extreme circumstances.”
The team compared their genetic sequences with a database of known viruses to find the most prevalent viruses in the ice core samples. They found that the bacteriophages, which infect, were the most common. Methylobacterium – bacteria important to The methane cycleWithin ice
Most of them were related to viruses discovered in Methylobacterium strains in plant and soil habitats – consistent with a previous reportIt is likely that soils are the main source of dust on Guliya Ice Cap.
The team believes that these frozen viruses originate from soil and plants, which facilitates nutrient acquisition for their hosts. Conclusion.
After the events of September 11, the specter that ancient viruses might be able to infect the human body is particularly alarming. COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest danger lies in what else the melting ice is releasing – massive reserves of sequestered methaneAnd Carbon.
However, it is evident that the ice could provide insights into past environmental changes as well as the evolution of viruses.
“We don’t know much about microbes and viruses in extreme environments. What do we know?” Lonnie Thompson, an Earth scientist, explained itAccording to him, there are many important questions that remain unanswered.
“How do viruses and bacteria respond to each other?” Climate change? What happens when an ice age turns into a warm period, like the one we are in now?
There are many things to discover.
This study was published in Microbiome.
This article was published for the first time in July 2021.
