Mutant swarms of a totivirus-like entities are present in the red macroalga Chondrus crispus and have been partially transferred to the nuclear genome
Chondrus crispus Stackhouse (Gigartinales) is a red seaweed found on North Atlantic rocky shores. Electrophoresis of RNA extracts showed a prominent band with a size of around 6,000 bp. Sequencing of the band revealed several sequences with similarity to totiviruses, double‐stranded RNA viruses that...
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Published in | Journal of phycology Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 493 - 504 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.08.2016
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc Wiley |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Chondrus crispus Stackhouse (Gigartinales) is a red seaweed found on North Atlantic rocky shores. Electrophoresis of RNA extracts showed a prominent band with a size of around 6,000 bp. Sequencing of the band revealed several sequences with similarity to totiviruses, double‐stranded RNA viruses that normally infect fungi. This virus‐like entity was named C. crispus virus (CcV). It should probably be regarded as an extreme viral quasispecies or a mutant swarm since low identity (<65%) was found between sequences. Totiviruses typically code for two genes: one capsid gene (gag) and one RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase gene (pol) with a pseudoknot structure between the genes. Both the genes and the intergenic structures were found in the CcV sequences. A nonidentical gag gene was also found in the nuclear genome of C. crispus, with associated expressed sequence tags (EST) and upstream regulatory features. The gene was presumably horizontally transferred from the virus to the alga. Similar dsRNA bands were seen in extracts from different life cycle stages of C. crispus and from all geographic locations tested. In addition, similar bands were also observed in RNA extractions from other red algae; however, the significance of this apparently widespread phenomenon is unknown. Neither phenotype caused by the infection nor any virus particles or capsid proteins were identified; thus, the presence of viral particles has not been validated. These findings increase the known host range of totiviruses to include marine red algae. |
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Bibliography: | istex:3A9CB3E676DCCF47A64DEC10DDA7915BDDB54475 IDEALG - No. ANR-10-BTBR-04-02; No. ANR-10-BTBR-04-04 ArticleID:JPY12427 University Pierre and Marie Curie Centre National de Recherche Scientifique ark:/67375/WNG-FBRGXS1M-R ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0022-3646 1529-8817 |
DOI: | 10.1111/jpy.12427 |