An Ecological Framework of the Human Virome Provides Classification of Current Knowledge and Identifies Areas of Forthcoming Discovery

Parker, Michael T.

Viruses can also infect fungal members of the human microbiome (mycoviruses) and protozoa of the human macrobiome [77, [92] [93] [94] [95] [96] [97] [98] . While much less is known about these particular types of viruses, similar conjectures have been made as for phages in regard to their potential as both atypical pathogens and mutualists. Direct effects on human health are likely rare, though they have been observed for protozoan parasite viruses (see Atypically Pathogenic Viruses, above). The presence of these viruses may ultimately have an indirect effect on human health of unknown consequence. Investigation of the breadth and impact of such viruses is an interesting and important area of future research, particularly for the benefit of the immunocompromised and those in developing countries who are most affected by diseases caused by fungi and protozoa. There is also an abundance of prototypically planttropic viruses found in the human gut [99] . It is likely these viruses have been acquired via agricultural crops in the diet and the effect of their presence is unknown, but assembly of plant viral particles in Escherichia coli has been exhibited, so it is possible that these viruses may interact with gut bacteria [100] .