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| Titel |
Experimental fossilisation of viruses from extremophilic Archaea |
| VerfasserIn |
F. Orange, A. Chabin, A. Gorlas, S. Lucas-Staat, C. Geslin, M. Romancer, D. Prangishvili, P. Forterre, F. Westall |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1726-4170
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Biogeosciences ; 8, no. 6 ; Nr. 8, no. 6 (2011-06-09), S.1465-1475 |
| Datensatznummer |
250005949
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/bg-8-1465-2011.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The role of viruses at different stages of the origin of life has recently
been reconsidered. It appears that viruses may have accompanied the earliest
forms of life, allowing the transition from an RNA to a DNA world and
possibly being involved in the shaping of tree of life in the three domains
that we know presently. In addition, a large variety of viruses has been
recently identified in extreme environments, hosted by extremophilic
microorganisms, in ecosystems considered as analogues to those of the early
Earth. Traces of life on the early Earth were preserved by the precipitation
of silica on the organic structures. We present the results of the first
experimental fossilisation by silica of viruses from extremophilic Archaea
(SIRV2 – Sulfolobus islandicus rod-shaped virus 2, TPV1 – Thermococcus prieurii virus 1,
and PAV1 – Pyrococcus abyssi virus 1). Our results
confirm that viruses can be fossilised, with silica precipitating on the
different viral structures (proteins, envelope) over several months in a
manner similar to that of other experimentally and naturally fossilised
microorganisms. This study thus suggests that viral remains or traces could
be preserved in the rock record although their identification may be
challenging due to the small size of the viral particles. |
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