New 'Vampire Virus' Found In Maryland Soil

BALTIMORE, MD — A new “vampire virus” was recently discovered by researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in soil from Poolesville.

A team from the university detailed in the Journal of the International Society of Microbial Ecology how one virus that infects bacterial cells — called the satellite — attached itself to the neck of another such virus — called the helper — in order to survive, according to the school.

“When I saw it, I was like, ‘I can’t believe this,’” Tagide deCarvalho, assistant director of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences core facilities, told the university. “No one has ever seen a bacteriophage — or any other virus — attach to another virus.”

In images taken by deCarvalho, 80 percent of helpers had a satellite at the neck, while some helpers without a satellite had tendrils on their necks, indicating a helper had been there, according to the university.

The discovery was made by undergraduates at the school, who named the vampire satellite MiniFlayer and its helper MindFlayer, biological sciences professor Ivan Erill wrote in an article for The Conversation, remarking on MiniFlayer’s “evolutionary aplomb and horror-movie creativity.”

“Borrowing from both ‘Dracula’ and ‘Alien,’ this satellite phage evolved a short appendage that allows it to latch onto its helper’s neck like a vampire,” he wrote. “Together, the unwary helper and its passenger travel in search of a new host, where the viral drama will unfold again. We don’t yet know how MiniFlayer subdues its helper, or whether MindFlayer has evolved countermeasures."

The discovery of the vampire virus could help with the development of antiviral treatments, according to Erill.

“If the recent pandemic has taught us anything, it is that our supply of antivirals is rather limited," he wrote. "Research on the complex, intertwined and at times predatory nature of viruses and their satellites, like the ability of MiniFlayer to attach to its helper’s neck, has the potential to open new avenues for antiviral therapy.”

Phage therapy can be used to target infections, an approach that could inhibit antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which have become a growing threat, The Washington Post reported.

“We don’t know whether or not the satellite is injecting its DNA into the helper or if it’s just hitchhiking along for a ride and then falling off, like a tick,” deCarvalho said in the Post story. “Hopefully someone else will pick up this work and figure out that really interesting question.”