Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jessica Labonté 

Viruses are found everywhere on our planet and infect all forms of life. Understanding how viruses impact the evolutionary history of specific hosts remains a challenge. The goal of this application is to develop novel tools to detect virus signature in million-year-old sediments to understand how they affected the evolutionary history of their host. We will use a two-step approach to link foraminifera to their viruses. First, we will use a molecular approach to identify the breath of diversity of viruses associated with a model host, foraminifers. Foraminifers are a group of single-celled eukaryotes (protists) with a particularly rich fossil record and a well-documented evolutionary history. Preliminary data indicate they are associated with large viruses containing lipids. Second, we will identify lipid biomarkers specific to viruses, including viruses associated with foraminifera, and build a library of viral lipid biomarkers. While DNA is more specific, lipid biomarkers are more stable over time than DNA, allowing us to go deeper in time. We will investigate the role of viruses in large diversity turnovers or mass mortality of foraminifera by revisiting document archives. Our approach to characterizing ancient viruses has the potential to change our view of how viruses and viral infections contributed to the ecology of foraminifers and how they were impacted by past climates.