> UMASS AMHERST BIOLOGISTS WHO STUDY CLIMATE CHANGE SAY THEY'VE
DISCOVERED 16 GIANTS VIRUSES, PREVIOUSLY UNIDENTIFIED, IN A
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS FOREST.
IT MIGHT SOUND OMINOUS, BUT PROFESSOR JEFFREY BLANCHARD SAID
IT IS AN EXCITING DISCOVERY, WHICH THEY ARE STILL UNCOVERING
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF.
HE SPOKE WITH ME IN THE STUDIO ABOUT WHAT THEY FOUND IN
PETERSHAM AND WHY THAT SURPRISED THEM.
>> IT WAS AMAZING.
THESE VIRUSES ARE AS BIG AS BACTERIA.
THEY HAVE ONLY BEEN DISCOVERED IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS, SNOW.
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN A FOREST ECOSYSTEM.
WE DISCOVERED 16 OF THEM.
>> LOTS TO UNPACK.
WHY DO YOU THINK YOU FOUND THEM IN A FOREST SETTING RATHER THAN
A MARINE ENVIRONMENT?
>> PEOPLE JUST HAVEN'T LOOKED.
WE ARE USING A SPECIAL NEW TECHNIQUE THAT ENABLED US TO
LOOK AT MORE CELLS THAN OTHER RESEARCHERS HAD LOOKED AT
BEFORE.
>> THIS MAY BE CONNECTED TO GLOBAL WARMING, WARMING SOILS,
BUT YOU ARE SAYING, NO, THERE IS A DIFFERENT TECH NATIOTECHNIQUE.
>> IT IS A CONNECTION.
WE ARE PART OF A GLOBAL WARMING SITE ONE GOING ON 20 YEARS AND
ANOTHER 30 YEARS.
WE WERE SAMPLING THAT SOIL TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE
BACTERIAL DIVERSITY CHANNING IN RESPONSE TO WARMING.
>> YOU FOUND NOT ONLY ONE, BUT 16.
IS THAT COMMON YOU WOULD FIND THIS MANY AT ONCE?
>> NO.
THAT IS EXTREMELY UNUSUAL.
EVEN IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS PEOPLE HAVEN'T FOUND THIS MANY
AT ONCE.
THE SCALE WE HAVE DONE THIS NEW TECHNIQUE AT ALLOWING US TO SEE
THE NEW BIODIVERSITY.
>> YOU ARE JUST DISCOVERING AND UNPACKING ALL OF THIS.
DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS ARE HAVING
DISCOVERED ANY OF THE 16 MIGHT BE, HOW THEY MIGHT BE USED OR
WHAT THEY MIGHT HELP US UNDERSTAND?
>> SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF IMPLICATIONS FROM A PURE SCIENCE
DISCOVERY.
THESE ARE VIRUSES AS BIG AS SOME BACTERIA AND HAVE THOUSANDS OF
GENES.
MOST OF THESE GENES WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY DO.
THEY ARE PROBABLY PRETTY IMPORTANT FOR ECOSYSTEM
FUNCTION.
THEY ARE POTENTIAL SOURCES FOR ENZYMES FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY THAT
MIGHT HAVE DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS.
>> IN THE PAST SOME OF YOUR RESEARCH HAS HELPED WITH
PROBIOTIC DEVELOPMENT, THINGS LIKE THAT.
ANY CONNECTIONS YOU CAN MAKE OR TOO SOON TO SAY?
>> TOO SOON TO SAY.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY DO.
THERE IS A LOT OF INTERESTING SPACE TO DISCOVER.
>> YOU MENTIONED THEY ARE AS LARGE AS BACTERIA.
STILL CAN'T BE DETECTED BY THE HUMAN EYE, I ASSUME?
>> NO.
BUT WITH A COMMON MICROSCOPE IN A LABORATORY, LIKE A HIGH SCHOOL
LABORATORY, YOU COULD SEE THEM.
>> THIS WAS DEVELOPED IN COLLABORATION WITH COLLEAGUES IN
CALIFORNIA BECAUSE A UMASS STUDENT WAS ON FELLOWSHIP OUT
THERE.
WALK US THROUGH WHAT YOU ARE SAYING AS THE FINDINGS ARE BEING
REPORTED BACK TO YOU FROM THIS STUDENT?
>> THE STUDENT WAS IN CALIFORNIA ON A FELLOWSHIP.
AND SHE WAS WORKING WITH SOMEONE WHO SPECIALIZING IN ANALYZING
COMPUTER DATA.
FREDERICKS SCHULTZ.
FREDERICKS IDENTIFIED THEM IN OUR DATA AND THEY COMMUNICATED
THIS TO ME.
I WAS EXCITED.
THESE GIANT VIRUSES HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED, 2004 WAS THE FIRST
GENOME SEQUENCE.
THEY ARE NEW TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE.
TO HAVE 16 NEW ONES IN OUR DATA SET WAS AMAZING.
>> WHEN YOU SAY GIANT VIRUSES, SOME ARE AS BIG AS BACTERIA.
PEOPLE THINK MONSTER MOVIES, THEY ARE GOING TO BE ATTACKED BY
THEM.
CAN YOU QUANTIFY WHAT GIANT LOOKS LIKE?
>> I WOULD LOVE TO MAKE 50-FOOT GIANT VIRUS SCULPTURES,
MULTIDIMENSIONAL HEADS TO THEM, BUT THEY ARE ONE MICRON SCALE.
PART OF THE SURPRISE AND PART OF WHY WE DETECTED THEM IS WE WERE
TRYING TO ISOLATE BACTERIA.
THEY CAME OUT WITH THE OTHER BACTERIA BECAUSE THEY WERE SO
BIG.
>> DO WE KNOW IF THEY CAN BE HARMFUL TO HUMANS OR THE FOREST
EN?
>> RIGHT.
SO FARCE HUMANS GO, WE DON'T KNOW.
THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF GIANTS VIRUSES IN OUR GUT
SYSTEM, BUT WE THINK THEY ARE JUST PASSING THROUGH OR LIVING
ON OTHER PROTUS, NOT DIRECTLY HARMING US.
IN THE FOREST ECOSYSTEM THEY AFFECT OTHER SMALL MICROBES.
>> IS THERE ANY WAY TO KNOW.
YOU DISCOVERED THEM THROUGH A TECHNIQUE NOT USED PREVIOUSLY.
THEY HAVE PROBABLY BEEN THERE A WHILE, MAYBE NOT DETECTED.
DO WE KNOW WHAT ROLE THEY ARE PLAYING OUT THERE YET?
>> NO.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT ROLE BASICALLY INFECTING OTHER
MICROBES THEN THEY RELEASE CARBON INTO THE SOIL FOR
BACTERIA TO GROW.
IT COMPLETES THE CARBON CYCLE.
>> YOU SAID THIS IS PART OF A LONGER PROJECT.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU GO OUT, OBSERVING THE SOIL?
>> I LIKE TO GO OUT A LOT.
IT IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE.
IT IS CALLED THE NORTH QUABAN WOODS.
WE, DEPENDING ON THE YEAR ARE TAKING MORE SAMPLES.
SOME YEARS WE ARE OUT THERE ONCE A MONTH, EVERY TWO MONTHS.
TO TAKE SAMPLES.
WE CAN'T SEE ANYTHING LOOKING DRKTLY AT THE SOIL.
WE HAVE TO BRING IT BACK TO THE LAB AND LOOK THROUGH THE
MICROSCOPE OR DO A DNA SEQUENCING TECHNOLOGY.
THAT IS HOW WE SEE THE MIKE -- MICROBES, THROUGH THE DNA.
>> ARE THERE OBSERVABLE DIFFERENCES TO THE FOREST THAT
YOU'VE NOTED?
BEING OUT THERE AS FREQUENTLY AS YOU ARE?
>> YEAH.
IN OUR LONG-TERM EXPERIMENTAL WARMING PLOTS THE RICH ORGANIC
LAYER ON TOP OF THE SOIL IS ABOUT THIS THICK.
SO THAT IS YOUR BREAKDOWN OF LEAVES AND STUFF.
IN THE PLOTS WHERE THERE IS LONG-TERM WARMING THERE IS ABOUT
HALF OF THAT.
ALL OF THAT CARBON AS BEEN RESPIRED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE
WITH MORE CO2 INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.
>> WITH THAT CHANGE, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE IMPACT COULD BE?
>> SO OUR SOILS ARE BECOMING MORE DEPLETED IN CARBON.
IF YOU GO DOWN SOUTH TO THE TROPICS, MOTTE OF THE LEAVES AND
OTHER ORGANIC MATERIALS CYCLES QUICKLY IN A YEAR.
THERE IS NO ORGANIC LAYER ON TOP OF THE SOIL.
THAT IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT THE LONG-TERM WARMING PLOTS ARE
STARTING TO LOOK LIKE.
LESS RICH COMPONENT SOIL.
>> WHAT DOES THAT RICH SOIL TYPICALLY HELP WITH?
>> SO THERE IS WHAT YOU FIND A LOT OF THE LIFE IN THE SOIL.
THIS TIME OF THE YEAR YOU WILL SEE WHITE STRANDS OF FUNGI
GROWING THERE THAT, LOTS OF BACTERIA, MITES AND MICROSCOPIC
ORGANISMS.
>> THE THRIVING UNDERBELLY OF THE FOREST FLOOR?
>> YEAH.
RIGHT.
>> IN TERMS OF THE 16 GIANT VIR
VIRUSES, DO YOU HAVE A HOPE FOR WHAT THE DISCOVERY MIGHT MEAN?
>> YEAH.
SO ONE LEVEL IS THIS AMAZING NEW BIODIVERSITY.
IT IS LIKE WALKING ON TO A CONTINENT FOR THE FIRST TIME.
NO ONE HAS LOOKED AT WHAT LIFE ON THAT CONTINENT IS LIKE.
WE FOUND ALL OF THIS IN JUST A TEASPOON OF SOIL IN THE FOREST.
NOBODY HAS LOOKED ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD IN FOREST
ECOSYSTEMS.
I'M SURE THERE IS AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF DIVERSITY AND MUCH TO
BE LEARNED HOW THESE VIRUSES HAVE NEW FUNCTIONS AND ROLES
THAT WE NEVER IMAGINED.