MSGID: 1:317/3 63d9eaec   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Diversity of viroids and viroid-like agents    
      
     Date:   
         January 31, 2023   
     Source:   
         NIH/National Library of Medicine   
     Summary:   
         A team of researchers has developed a computational pipeline to   
         identify and better understand viroids and viroid-like covalently   
         closed circular RNAs (cccRNAs, also referred to as, simply,   
         circular RNAs).   
      
      
         Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email   
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   A team of researchers from the National Library of Medicine (NLM)   
   and collaborating academic research institutions have developed a   
   computational pipeline to identify and better understand viroids and   
   viroid-like covalently closed circular RNAs (cccRNAs, also referred to   
   as, simply, circular RNAs).   
      
   This is a type of single-stranded RNA which, unlike linear RNA, forms   
   a covalently closed, continuous circle. Findings were published in the   
   journal Cell.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Viroids are circular RNAs of only 250 to 400 nucleotides and are the   
   smallest and simplest among the known infectious agents and have been   
   believed to cause infections only in plants. The diversity of viroid   
   and viroid-like RNAs has been poorly understood, which led researchers   
   to investigate more about these sub-viral agents and their possible   
   abundance in other environments and hosts.   
      
   By searching a collection of 5,131 metatranscriptomes and 1,344 plant   
   transcriptomes for viroid-like cccRNAs, researchers uncovered 11,378   
   viroid- like cccRNAs spanning 4,409 species-level clusters. This   
   finding was a five- fold increase compared to the previously identified   
   viroid-like elements.   
      
   Within this diverse collection, researchers discovered that this   
   distinct class of pathogens is not limited in their spread to a   
   few plants as previously thought but are common and abundant in all   
   kinds of environments and hosts, comparable to the better-known RNA   
   viruses. Furthermore, distant relatives of human Hepatitis Delta Virus   
   (Hepatitis D) were discovered, shedding light on the origin of this   
   important human pathogen, as well as completely novel types of viruses.   
      
   "This work opens up new directions for researchers worldwide," said   
   Eugene V.   
      
   Koonin, PhD, a co-author of the study and senior investigator in the   
   Computational Biology Branch of NLM's Intramural Research Program. "We   
   are currently pursuing some follow up analyses," he added.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # New_Species # Virology # Endangered_Plants #   
                   Microbes_and_More # Biology # Biochemistry_Research #   
                   Nature # Pests_and_Parasites   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Truffle o Computational_genomics o Computational_neuroscience   
             o Tasmanian_Devil o Pupil o Bioinformatics o Vocal_folds   
             o Animal_cognition   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   NIH/National_Library_of_Medicine. Note: Content may be edited for style   
   and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Benjamin D. Lee, Uri Neri, Simon Roux, Yuri I. Wolf, Antonio Pedro   
         Camargo, Mart Krupovic, Peter Simmonds, Nikos Kyrpides, Uri Gophna,   
         Valerian V. Dolja, Eugene V. Koonin. Mining metatranscriptomes   
         reveals a vast world of viroid-like circular RNAs. Cell, 2023;   
         DOI: 10.1016/ j.cell.2022.12.039   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230131160549.htm   
      
   --- up 48 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 226/30 227/114 229/110   
   SEEN-BY: 229/111 112 113 114 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 292/854   
   SEEN-BY: 298/25 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426