In-depth study of Mollivirus sibericum, a new 30,000-y-old giant virus infecting Acanthamoeba

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 112; no. 38; p. E5327
• Main Authors: Legendre, Matthieu, Lartigue, Audrey, Bertaux, Lionel, Jeudy, Sandra, Bartoli, Julia, Lescot, Magali, Alempic, Jean-Marie, Ramus, Claire, Bruley, Christophe, Labadie, Karine, Shmakova, Lyubov, Rivkina, Elizaveta, Couté, Yohann, Abergel, Chantal, Claverie, Jean-Michel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Acad Sciences 22.09.2015; National Academy of Sciences
• Series: PNAS Plus
• Subjects: Acanthamoeba - virology; Acanthamoeba castellanii; Acanthamoeba castellanii - virology; Biological Evolution; Biological Sciences; Climate change; Cloning, Molecular; Computational Biology; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA Replication; Gene Library; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Genome, Viral; Genomics; Global Warming; Life Sciences; Mass Spectrometry; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Molecular Sequence Data; Multigene Family; Permafrost; Phylogeny; PNAS Plus; Proteins; Proteome; Proteomics - methods; Protozoa; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Viral Proteins - genetics; Virion - genetics; Viruses; Viruses - genetics; permafrost; giant virus; Pleistocene

The saga of giant viruses (i.e. visible by light microscopy) started in 2003 with the discovery of Mimivirus. Two additional types of giant viruses infecting Acanthamoeba have been discovered since: the Pandoraviruses (2013) and Pithovirus sibericum (2014), the latter one revived from 30,000-y-old S...