‘Virovore’: An organism that eats viruses discovered

Over a single day, in the placid waters of a single pond, a million virus particles might enter a single-celled organism known for the minuscule hairs, or cilia, that propel it through those waters.

Over the last three years, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s John DeLong has been busy discovering a potential tide-turning secret: Those virus particles are a source not just of infection, but nutrition.

In a turnabout worthy of Pac-Man, DeLong and his colleagues have found that a species of Halteria-microscopic ciliates that populate freshwater worldwide - can eat huge numbers of infectious chloroviruses that share their aquatic habitat. For the first time, the team’s lab experiments have also shown that a virus-only diet, which the team calls “virovory,” is enough to fuel the physiological growth and even population growth of an organism.

Reference:

DeLong, J. P., Van Etten, J. L., Al-Ameeli, Z., Agarkova, I. V., & Dunigan, D. D. (2022b). The consumption of viruses returns energy to food chains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(1). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2215000120