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Corey S Powell (coreyspowell@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 02-Jan-2023 10:26:06 JST Corey S Powell

Researchers have discovered the first known "virovore," an organism that feeds on viruses. Probably there are many others like it -- an entire, previously unknown food chain.
One day into 2023, and already things are going topsy turvy.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/975344 #ecology #life
In conversation Monday, 02-Jan-2023 10:26:06 JST from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Image of Halteria, a microscopic protist that eats viruses as a food source.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/109/616/541/015/528/449/original/9dc52649a2276481.jpg
2. No result found on File_thumbnail lookup.
  
  Eating viruses can power growth, reproduction of microorganism
  
  from UNLNews
  
  In a turnabout worthy of Pac-Man, University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers have found that microscopic ciliates 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.
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