Mohammad ‘Monir’ Moniruzzaman
Moniruzzaman et al. significantly changed the field’s understanding of how green algae evolve by demonstrating the incorporation of viral DNA, contributing a large amount of genes to these protistan genomes. The viral DNA uncovered in these algae – known as endogenous viral elements – are from exceptionally large viruses called Nucleocytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses or “NCLDVs”. This discovery represents a large shift in the previously held idea that the slow accumulation of single nucleotide polymorphisms over time represented the main mechanism of evolution in these organisms. NCLDVs often have large genomes that contain genes from multiple sources. Therefore, the discovery by Moniruzzaman et al. of their widespread endogenization into green algal genomes constitutes a major mechanism of evolution previously unappreciated in these organisms. With 30 citations since its publication less than two years ago, Moniruzzaman et al. has opened new and exciting avenues of research in aquatic microbiology.
ASLO President Roxane Maranger says, “How phytoplankton communities evolve and adapt in the face of environmental change is a fundamental question in oceanography and limnology. The discovery in Dr. Moniruzzaman’s 2020 paper of the role of giant viruses provides monumental advances in the field’s approach to answering this question. We look forward to continued work by this impressive early-career researcher.”
Full Citation: Moniruzzaman, M., Weinheimer, A.R., Martinez-Gutierrez, C.A., Aylward, F.O., 2020. Widespread endogenization of giant viruses shapes genomes of green algae. Nature 588, pp. 141–145. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2924-2