PLANET EARTH
Thousands of new viruses discovered in the ocean
WORDS RACHAEL RETTNER
More than 5,000 new RNA virus species were identified
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Researchers have analysed tens of thousands of water samples from around the globe hunting for RNA viruses, those that use RNA as their genetic material. These viruses are understudied compared with DNA viruses, which use DNA as their genetic material. The diversity of the newfound viruses was so great that the researchers have proposed doubling the number of taxonomic groups needed to classify RNA viruses from the existing five phyla to ten.“There’s so much new diversity here, and an entire phylum, the Taraviricota, were found all over the oceans, which suggests they’re ecologically important,” said Matthew Sullivan, a professor of microbiology at The Ohio State University.