More than 5,000 new virus species have been identified in the world's oceans, according to a new study.
The study researchers analyzed tens of thousands of water samples from around the globe, hunting for RNA viruses, or viruses that use
RNA as their genetic material.
The novel coronavirus, for instance, is a type of RNA virus. These viruses are understudied compared with DNA viruses, which use
DNA as their genetic material, the authors said.
The diversity of the newfound viruses was so great that the researchers have proposed doubling the number of taxonomic groups needed to classify RNA viruses, from the existing five phyla to 10 phyla. (Phylum is a broad classification in biology just below "kingdom.")
"There's so much new diversity here – and an entire [new] phylum, the Taraviricota, were found all over the oceans, which suggests they’re ecologically important," study lead author Matthew Sullivan, a professor of microbiology at The Ohio State University,
said in a statement.
Studies of RNA viruses have usually focused on those that cause diseases, according to Sullivan. (Some well-known RNA viruses include influenza, Ebola and the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.) But these are just a "tiny slice" of RNA viruses on Earth, Sullivan said.
"We wanted to systematically study them on a very big scale and explore an environment no one had looked at deeply," Sullivan said in the statement.
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