Figure 7 - uploaded by Crisogono Vasconcelos
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| Model showing the evolution from virus attachment to a prokaryotic cell through to virus mineralization. (1) Virus attachment to specific receptors on prokaryotic cell walls; (2) injection of genetic material inside the cell by tail contraction; (3) disruption of the host's normal metabolism leading to manufacture of viral products; (4) virus assemblage within the infected cell; (5) viruses released outside the prokaryotic cell after cell lysis; (6) Mg-Si permineralization of viruses concomitant with prokaryotic cells in dysoxic conditions; (7) incorporation of calcium into Mg-Si polygons and spheres; (8) replacement of am Mg-Si-Ca phases by Mg-carbonate; (9) mineralized viruses in microbial mat carbonate layers occurring as distinct nanometer-scale spheroids.
Source publication
Viruses are the most abundant biological entities throughout marine and terrestrial ecosystems, but little is known about virus–mineral interactions or the potential for virus preservation in the geological record. Here we use contextual metagenomic data and microscopic analyses to show that viruses occur in high diversity within a modern lacustrin...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... we propose a new model in which viruses have a key role in organomineralization processes (Fig. 7). Viruses infect their hosts by attaching themselves to specific receptors on prokaryotic cell walls, then injecting their genetic material inside the cell. Metagenomic analyses conducted in the microbial mat revealed a great diversity of viruses (Fig. 1). In addition, most of the sequences we found belong to unknown strains and did not ...
Context 2
... addition, most of the sequences we found belong to unknown strains and did not match with currently available databases. Our findings confirmed the presence of viral genes potentially incorporated by prokar- yotes (CRISPRs) inhabiting the Lagoa Vermelha mat (see Supplementary Fig. 7), providing supporting evidence that viral infections occur in both bacteria and archaea. In infections characterized by lytic cycles, viral replication results in the host cell bursting, with the consequent release of the newly formed viruses along with cellular debris. ...
