200,000 Unique Viruses Found Hidden In The Oceans

An international team found almost 200,000 viruses lurking underwater, most of them remain unknown to mankind. Previously, only 15,000 known viruses were present in the ocean waters. The team were able to collect the data as they took on the course of a pole to pole expedition to survey the life and ways of marine creatures. The data used in the study were collected between the period of 2009 to 2013. This was the first global survey of the ecological diversity of viruses in the oceans ever to be conducted. Their findings were published in the journal Cell.

Recent results plays huge implications in understanding our planet more. The data collected will give us a deeper insight on the evolution of life and potential threats. The crew traveled in "the Tara", a vessel that was set forth into the water to collect data for study more than a decade ago.

"Viruses are these tiny things that you can't even see, but because they're present in such huge numbers, they really matter," says senior author Matthew Sullivan, a microbiologist at the Ohio State University. "We've developed a distribution map that is foundational for anyone who wants to study how viruses manipulate the ecosystem. There were many things that surprised us about our findings."

There were many things about the study that they found surprising. Despite the large number of viruses present in the ocean waters, the team was able to identify five ecological zones. The zoes include the depths of the waters in the Arctic and the Antarctic and then three others found in the Temperate and Tropical Regions.

Researchers had hypothesize the Arctic region would be the least viruses found because of its low temperature conditions, but discovered that it was an unexpected hotspot for lots of living creatures including unwanted viruses. The new research adds to the idea of how the viruses are able to get around the planet.

"Having a new map of where these viruses are located can help us understand this ocean carbon "pump" and, more broadly, biogeochemistry that impacts the planet." Sullivan said.