A new study reveals there are almost 200,000 distinct viral populations in the ocean.
That’s a lot more viruses than we previously thought.
A liter of sea water contains anywhere between 1-10 billion virus particles—most of which we don’t know anything about. Our understanding of these elusive microbial communities has just been coming into focus over the last few decades, and this new research is a huge step toward better understanding our oceans.
Previously, highest number we had for ocean viral populations was about 15,000, but this new study pretty much blows that already impressive number out of the water.
From 2009 to 2013, researchers analyzed samples from about 80 different sites all over the world, from sunny surfaces to thousands of meters down into the depths. They found more than 180,000 additional unique viral populations, bringing the total number of distinct viral populations to almost 200,000. And the diversity of these new populations is nothing short of impressive.
Understanding how viruses interact with bacteria is important to human health and viruses also play essential roles outside of our bodies.
Viruses kill so many marine microbes they actually release a really significant amount of carbon back into the environment, playing a critical role in the food chain, all the way down at the very bottom.
Viruses continue to be very mysterious and though this project uncovered a lot of new populations, there is still a lot we just don’t know.
Find out more about the newest viral populations, how they were discovered, and more on this episode of Elements.