Deep beneath the soil of a Massachusetts forest, an international team of researchers has uncovered a multitude of mysterious, gigantic viruses of unprecedented ecological diversity.
Researchers looked at soil and lake sediment from Lake Hazen, the largest lake by volume north of the Arctic Circle. Sequencing segments of DNA and RNA found in the soil, the scientists sought to identify the pool of viruses present in the environment.
Researchers found "giant" viruses – several times larger than typical viruses – affecting microscopic algae just below the boundary between fresh water and salt water.
Trillions upon trillions of microbes have remained locked away in the Arctic’s permafrost in a “deep sleep” for thousands of years. But the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world in the wake of climate change.
