Prehistoric 'Frankenvirus' Mollivirus sibericum uncovered in Siberian permafrost

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Prehistoric 'Frankenvirus' Mollivirus sibericum uncovered in Siberian permafrost

Date
    September 9, 2015

Marcus Strom
Marcus Strom
Journalist


Scientists discover giant, ancient virus

Unearthed in Siberia, researchers say the virus could be up to 30,000 years old but one Australian expert doubts their claim.



Scientists have revived a giant virus that has lain frozen under the Siberian tundra for 30,000 years.

But the French researchers who discovered the long-dormant virus have warned that climate change has the potential to awaken more disease-causing viruses in the Arctic.

The virus is called Mollivirus sibericum, which means soft Siberian virus, but lay observers have quickly dubbed it "Frankenvirus". In the world of viruses it is a monster, with 523 genetic proteins. The genome of the influenza virus, by comparison, encodes just 11 genetic proteins.

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 Scanning electron microscopy of two isolated Mollivirus particles. Photo: PNAS

Last year, the same team of French virus-hunters discovered another giant virus strain, Pithovirus sibericum, in the same sample of Arctic permafrost. Neither virus is harmful to humans or animals and both are hosted in common soil amoeba.

However, the authors of the study said that "the fact that two different viruses could be easily revived from prehistoric permafrost should be of concern in [the] context of global warming".

In their paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science , the researchers wrote: "Our finding suggests that prehistory 'live' viruses are not a rare occurrence." Further, they warn "we cannot rule out that distant viruses of ancient Siberian human populations could re-emerge as Arctic permafrost layers melt and/or are disrupted by industrial activities".

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 Mollivirus particle at a late assembly stage. Photo: PNAS

One of the researchers, Jean-Michel Claverie, said: "Some viral particles which are still infectious can, in the presence of a receptive host, [lead to] the resurgence of potentially pathogenic viruses in Arctic regions".  He said that climate change is making the Arctic region more accessible for the extraction of mineral and oil resources, which could further expose such viruses.

"If we are not careful, and we industrialise these areas without putting safeguards in place, we run the risk of one day waking up viruses such as smallpox that we thought were eradicated," Professor Claverie told Agence-France Presse.

M. sibericum is the fourth giant virus discovered. The first of the giant viruses, Mimivirus, was found in 2003. The second family of giant viruses, the Pandoravirus, was found in 2013 in a pond in suburban Melbourne, at La Trobe University in Bundoora.

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 Microbiologist Professor Ben Cocks in 2013 at the La Trobe University pond where the Pandoravirus was found. Photo: Ken Irwin

Edward Holmes, a professor of infectious diseases and biosecurity at the University of Sydney, was cautious of the findings.

"What's interesting [about the new virus] is viral diversity; it's cool that they're so big, and I'm querying the age, but the risk? None."

"We are more at risk from the standard microbiological fauna that floats around," he told Fairfax Media.
Representatives of the four 'giant' virus families: Mollivirus, Megavirus, Pithovirus and Pandoravirus under a scanning electron microscope.

Representatives of the four 'giant' virus families: Mollivirus, Megavirus, Pithovirus and Pandoravirus under a scanning electron microscope. Photo: PNAS

Professor Holmes said: "The problem with things this old is that DNA degrades quite quickly. So trying to get any material that is that old is very, very difficult.

"The oldest pathogen [we have identified] is plague bacterium going back 1500 years - and that was was very degraded. Here you have an intact virus going back 30,000 years so it would have to have been absolutely, instantaneously frozen and [then experience] no thawing or degradation. That's a tough call for me ... I'd like the age to be independently verified."

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Representatives of the four 'giant' virus families: Mollivirus, Megavirus, Pithovirus and Pandoravirus under a scanning electron microscope. Photo: PNAS

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However, Professor Holmes said he isn't saying they're wrong: "If it is 30,000 years old, it's fantastic."
Professor Edward Holmes, University of Sydney.

Professor Edward Holmes, University of Sydney.

Viruses have traditionally been thought of as small and simple organisms. However, the discovery of the Mimivirus in 2003 means that we now know viruses can be large and complex.

Viruses are considered "giant" if they are longer than half a micron, or 0.0005 millimetres. Scientists hope that analysis of these giant viruses will help us better understand viral evolution and perhaps the origins of life itself.

Professor Holmes said that humans first studied viruses that threatened humans and economically important animals and plants. However, it is now understood that we have just "scratched the surface of the virus-sphere".

"There is an amazing diversity of viruses out there. They're in weird organisms, they're of different shapes and sizes - the giant viruses came as a real surprise - and the sea is full of them. And in most cases they have nothing to do with disease whatsoever," Professor Holmes said.

"We've just missed an amazing diversity of life. Most DNA on earth is certainly in viruses."

The discovery of a prehistoric giant virus will no doubt trigger memories for some of sci-fi thriller, The Thing, in which scientists operating in the Antarctic disturb a long-dormant, violent alien species.

Of course, M. sibericum is non-sentient, Arctic and terrestrial, so perhaps we probably don't have too much to worry about.

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Professor Edward Holmes, University of Sydney.

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http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/prehistoric-frankenvirus-mollivirus-sibericum-uncovered-in-siberian-permafrost-20150909-gjial2.html

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Could dormant viruses be released from the permafrost ? Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.5 Hannes Grobe

[the Joker]

Remember also, scientists claimed we were in a new ice age in the 60's as the glaciers were advancing.

[Gremlin]

Well, we're already in the midst of the Sixth Great Mass Extinction, might as well go out with a bang!

[DecoNoir]

Is this the same labratory that had deadly Anthrax cultures laying around in the hallways?... I'm all for this... I mean... What could possibly go wrong?...

[MinisterofInfo]

So terrorists just have to bring a couple of heater there and boil that sh#t

[Demonxxx]

It is the cure for the common cold !

[She-ra, Princess of Power]

Well (in this case at least) your worries are probably unfounded, because I believe most of these giant viruses prey on bacteria and protozoa. But yes, a bit of quality control at that lab couldn't hurt!