![]() Sequencing the genome of BsV revealed many previously unknown genes, as well as several unusual features. have now isolated and characterized the giant Bodo saltans virus (BsV), a Giant Virus that infects an ecologically important microbe commonly found in aquatic environments. Without being able to study Giant Viruses in the laboratory, little can be known about their biology, the way they infect their hosts, and their broader influence on aquatic life.ĭeeg et al. Sequencing DNA from ocean water suggests that Giant Viruses are abundant and ecologically important yet, few have been isolated from the microbes that they infect. Typically, more than half of the genes encoded by Giant Viruses have no evident similarity to genes from other viruses or cellular life. Relative to other viruses, Giant Viruses have much more DNA in their genome, which in turn provides the genetic template to produce the proteins that allow viruses to reproduce largely independently of its host. However, a few reach a similar size and complexity to bacteria, and so stand out as relative giants. ![]() Most of these viruses are tiny, often 10 or 100 times smaller than bacteria. In oceans, rivers and lakes, there are about a million viruses in every milliliter of water. Putative anti-host factors show extensive gene duplication via a genomic accordion indicating an ongoing evolutionary arms race and highlighting the rapid evolution and genomic plasticity that has led to genome gigantism and the enigma that is giant viruses. Essential genes are invaded by homing endonuclease-encoding self-splicing introns that may defend against competing viruses. Yet, much of its translational apparatus has been lost, including all tRNAs. Its 1.39 Mb genome encodes 1227 predicted ORFs, including a complex replication machinery. BsV infects an ecologically important microzooplankton, the kinetoplastid Bodo saltans. Herein, we present the giant Bodo saltans virus (BsV), the first characterized representative of the most abundant group of giant viruses in ocean metagenomes, and the first isolate of a klosneuvirus, a subgroup of the Mimiviridae proposed from metagenomic data. Giant viruses are ecologically important players in aquatic ecosystems that have challenged concepts of what constitutes a virus.
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