Researchers in the US made a shocking discovery when they saw viruses sticking together. Two “bacteriophage” viruses took advantage of each other to help them replicate. “No one has ever seen bacteriophages or other viruses attach to another virus,” study lead author Tagide de Carvalho said in a statement. This study suggests that there may be many more cases of this kind of relationship waiting to be discovered.
This study was published in a journal. International Society of Microbial Ecology The study explains that once a satellite virus enters a cell, it tries to rely on helper viruses to replicate its DNA. live science According to the report, satellites and helpers may need to infect the same cells at the same time, so they must be close to each other during the process. But a new study says the satellite is actually attached to a helper. It attaches to the “neck” of the virus.
The researchers made this discovery by examining environmental samples containing a family of bacteriophage satellites that infect Streptomyces bacteria.
The authors of this study analyzed the genomes of these bacteriophages and their bacterial hosts. They soon discovered that while the satellites had the genes that code for the outer shell of the protein, they lacked the key genes needed to replicate inside bacterial cells.
Explaining why satellites grab helpers by the neck, they say some satellites lack the genes needed to integrate into the bacterial host cell’s genome after invasion.
“These findings indicate that in the evolutionary arms race between satellite phages and helper phages, satellite strategies for genetic dependence on helpers continue to increase,” the authors write in the study. .
“Many of the bacteriophages that people thought were contaminated may actually be these satellite helper systems,” DeCarvalho said in a statement. “This paper may make people more aware of these systems.”