Did the ancient crenarchaeal viruses from the dawn of life survive exceptionally well the eons of meteorite bombardment?
The viruses of Crenarchaeota are unexpectedly diverse in their morphologies, and most have no, or few, genes related to bacterial, eukaryal, euryarchaeal, or other crenarchaeal viruses. Though several different virus morphotypes have been discovered in enrichment cultures of microbial communities collected from geothermally heated environments around the world, the origins of such differences are unknown. We present a model that combines consideration of Earth's geological history, the early emergence of hyperthermophiles, and the early formation of viruses from primordial genes with the intent to explain this vast diversity of crenarchaeal viruses. Several meteorite- or flood basalt-induced extinction events in the past resulted in a reduction in the numbers of cellular organisms. Acidophilic hyperthermophiles survived the global thermal rises and, therefore, still host a wide variety of ancient virus morphotypes. In contrast, other, more "recent" cellular lineages have lost the majority of their original viruses, as they have been separated geologically and genetically, and have gone through several near-extinction-level episodes of decimation. This view suggests that, among crenarchaeal viruses, the direct descendants of very early genetic elements are well preserved; thus, their examination would improve our understanding as to how life actually evolved from its origins to the complex cellular systems we see today. We also present a hypothesis that describes the role of viral armadas and extinctions during evolution, as extinctions may have episodically eliminated most of the abusive parasites.
Jalasvuori
Matti
M
Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Nanoscience Center, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland. matti.jalasvuori@jyu.fi
Bamford
Jaana K H
JK