Time first, close you were.
Posted on 07/19/2013 1:28:41 PM PDT by neverdem
Genome of largest viruses yet discovered hints at 'fourth domain' of life.
The organism was initially called NLF, for “new life form”. Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Abergel, evolutionary biologists at Aix-Marseille University in France, found it in a water sample collected off the coast of Chile, where it seemed to be infecting and killing amoebae. Under a microscope, it appeared as a large, dark spot, about the size of a small bacterial cell.
Later, after the researchers discovered a similar organism in a pond in Australia, they realized that both are viruses — the largest yet found. Each is around 1 micrometre long and 0.5 micrometres across, and their respective genomes top out at 1.9 million and 2.5 million bases — making the viruses larger than many bacteria and even some eukaryotic cells.
But these viruses, described today in Science1, are more than mere record-breakers — they also hint at unknown parts of the tree of life. Just 7% of their genes match those in existing databases.
“What the hell is going on with the other genes?” asks Claverie. “This opens a Pandora’s box. What kinds of discoveries are going to come from studying the contents?” The researchers call these giants Pandoraviruses.
“This is a major discovery that substantially expands the complexity of the giant viruses and confirms that viral diversity is still largely underexplored,” says Christelle Desnues, a virologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Marseilles, who was not involved in the study.
Claverie and Abergel have helped to discover other giant viruses — including the first2, called Mimivirus, in 2003, and Megavirus chilensis, until now the largest virus known3, in 2011. Pandoravirus salinus came from the same Chilean water sample as M. chilensis. Claverie picked up the second Pandoravirus, P. dulcis, from a pond near...
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
I think I’d rather watch Geraldo open Al Capone’s vault again than watch those movies.
Beautiful Friendly Virus?
Smart’s fingers just spread a little further...
Bountiful Fantastic Virtuoso?
So, how was the reduction of Enterobacter cloacae B29 in the obese individuals accomplished?
Yes. Do tell, says 300#+ nully...
Time first, close you were.
I think the passage of time has erased the pain for you. I’d rather watch paint dry or women’s basketball than Al Capone’s vault again.
You’re probably right, or the pain was so deep that I’ve pushed it out of conscious thought.
I don’t have a good feeling about this...
That movie sucked.
And it turned out to be a lousy prequel to Aliens! Stooooopid! Me AND the movie.
They were enigmatic about that, saying dietary changes and Chinese herbal medicines.
However, changes to intestinal flora are often, more than not, just one type of bacteria “shouldering out” another kind from the space it needs to operate. Typically it can take a month or more for probiotic bacteria to establish a foothold.
The science is still pretty new on the subject and there are a lot of unknowns.
I’m also a big Ridley Scott fan. Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Legend, Alien, Hannibal, etc.
Apparently they’re going to make a second Prometheus...joy. /s
See his answer to me in 33.
I tried the probiotic route a few months ago. Maybe I need to try it again. :(
There is not a reasonable diet that I have not tried to get rid of the weight — Atkins, Mediterranean, etc. Only thing that works for me is 2 days of fasting per week. Need to get back to that one, I guess. [[sigh....]]
———To add a fourth domain——That’s what biologists do to achieve fame........ split
Why fool with splitting hairs to describe a new species, go to the very top and split off a new domain.
Splitters rule and become department heads
The popular scientific opinion is that there used to be several domains, with some dying out completely, some never evolving much beyond their origins, and only two developing the vast majority of life on Earth.
But the differences between domains are very great.
Archaea were so different from bacteria that they were originally considered a kingdom, which is one level below domain. But even that is too close.
Archaea have no cell nucleus or any other membrane-bound organelles within their cells.
Imagine meeting someone who looked and somewhat acted like a human, but had no internal organs, and consumed liquid ammonia and used sunlight as food. That different.
You’ve met my ex?
Yes.
Apparently the gut flora rapidly change after childbirth and after gastric bypass.
After childbirth, moving from baby food to permanent adult diet, with severe sickness or surgery including antibiotics; and slowly, if you move to a significantly different environment and eat different foods.
There is also a different and parallel floral environment on the skin, especially in the “coliform zone” from the knees to the navel. It is so unique to the individual that it is thought of as almost a fingerprint. And when people have sex, they get an invasion of a radically different skin flora. This eventually normalizes the flora of a monogamous couple.
However, people who engage in a lot of casual sex can develop a “superflora”, which means that if they have sex with a virgin or someone with a weak immune system, they are likely to give them a “yeast infection” (often mistaken for venereal disease).
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