10,000 virus at the South Pole

A group of Spanish researchers has identified for the first time the genetic makeup of viruses from Antarctica and found a very high diversity of organisms in the polar area, the highest of the entire planet, unlike what the scientific community thought so far.

These are two of the main conclusions of a study conducted by researchers from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM), Universidad de Valencia and the Higher School of Public Health Research Valencian, and that published in the journal Science.

This group of scientists have described about 90,000 virus sequences Limnopolar lake in Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, Antarctica), the largest number of viral families found to date in a metagenome (complete genetic information of a natural community of microorganisms ) aquatic environments.

To achieve this global view of genetic variability, scientists have obtained images of viruses by electron microscopy and have used a new system of mass sequencing. Researchers have agreed that this study is full of surprises and offers new questions. Antonio Quesada, UAM, Efe explained that one of these surprises was finding a very high diversity of viruses in Lake Limnopolar because ecological theory suggests that extreme ecosystems, such as polar biodiversity stay little .

Viruses need a body to grow and so far it has been thought that the poles are few viruses and few species. However, the researchers of this study, have estimated that the lake contains about 10,000 different viral species. They have also discovered a lot of viruses of higher organisms, those with distinct nucleus.

Quesada has stated that another thing that you have described, for the first time, is how it changes the virus population before and after the thaw of the lake, and scientists have also noted the existence of viruses are extremely small. As reported by the CSIC, these people are most abundant when the lake is covered with ice, had not been described in other natural environments and might even belong to families hitherto unknown virus.
Virus and ecosystems

This study is the first step to better understand the role that viruses play in these extreme ecosystems and determine whether they have evolved independently for millions of years, "opined Antonio Alcamí, CSIC. This research project is encompassed within the Limnopolar, that since 2001, analyzed whether it can use the freshwater ecosystems in polar regions as sensors of climate change.

"We have opened the Pandora's box and have appeared very interesting things," acknowledged Quesada, who said that while the genetic makeup of viruses in Antarctica is not directly related to climate change, they understand how they could allow to change the populations of organisms. For this researcher, the main question that uncovers this study, scientists have been working for four years, is how it is possible that only 5,000 or 6,000 years old ecosystem of this lake has so many different viruses.

The project is funded by Limnopolar Spanish Polar Program, and the expedition to Antarctica was made possible by logistical support from the Marine Technology Unit, CSIC, and Oceanographic Research Vessel Navy Las Palmas.