An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” describes a research on Pandoraviruses, giant viruses that raised perplexity among scientists since the discovery of the first species, announced in 2013. A team of researchers discovered three new species belonging to the same family and proposed an explanation for their amount of genes, really huge for viruses, claiming that they create them on their own.

An article published in the journal “Nature Microbiology” reports the discovery of a new group of archaea that was called Marsarchaeota. A team of microbiologists from Montana State University (MSU) discovered these microbes in Yellowstone National Park, USA, in hot springs where temperature and acidity are high and the main mineral is iron oxide. Their discovery could offer new information on their evolution and in general on the origin of life on Earth and on the importance of iron in the early stages of its history.

An article published in the journal “eLife” describes a research on a species of giant virus called Bodo saltans virus (BsV), considered part of the most abundant group present in the seas. The name is due to the fact that it infects a species of microscopic plankton called the Bodo saltans. A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia succeeded in isolating this virus, classified as a Klosneuvirus, a sub-group of the Mimiviridae family.