Researchers from the biology department at Adam Mickiewicz University (UAM) in Poznan have made the first genome reconstruction of ancient bacteriophages (viruses that attack bacteria) from the human intestine, dating back 5,000 years.

The results of the research on ancient viruses have been published in the journal Nature Communications. The work, carried out in collaboration with scientists from Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and the University of Greifswald (Germany), includes several hundred bacteriophages that are important for the functioning of microbiomes.

“Most surprising was the detection of a virus, almost unchanged for 1 300 years, in fossilised human faeces found in a Mexican cave. This discovery sheds new light on the complex evolutionary history of bacteriophages, hitherto widely regarded as rapidly evolving viruses, and contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics between viruses and bacteria”, says Dr Andrzej Zieleziński of the Adam Microbiology University.

Read more: https://amu.edu.pl/dla-mediow/komunikaty-prasowe/starozytne-wirusy-w-badaniach-naukowcow-z-uam