Isolation and Characterization of Metallosphaera Turreted Icosahedral Virus, a Founding Member of a New Family of Archaeal Viruses
Wagner C, Reddy V, Asturias F, Khoshouei M, Johnson JE, Manrique P, Munson-McGee J, Baumeister W, Lawrence CM, Young MJ, Dermody TS. 2017. Isolation and Characterization of Metallosphaera Turreted Icosahedral Virus, a Founding Member of a New Family of Archaeal Viruses. Journal of Virology. 91(20)
Our understanding of archaeal virus diversity and structure is just beginning to emerge. Here we describe a new archaeal virus, tentatively named Metallosphaera turreted icosahedral virus (MTIV), that was isolated from an acidic hot spring in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Two strains of the virus were identified and were found to replicate in an archaeal host species closely related to Metallosphaera yellowstonensis. Each strain encodes a 9.8- to 9.9-kb linear double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome with large inverted terminal repeats. Each genome encodes 21 open reading frames (ORFs). The ORFs display high homology between the strains, but they are quite distinct from other known viral genes. The 70-nm-diameter virion is built on a T=28 icosahedral lattice. Both single particle cryo-electron microscopy and cryotomography reconstructions reveal an unusual structure that has 42 turret-like projections: 12 pentameric turrets positioned on the icosahedral 5-fold axes and 30 turrets with apparent hexameric symmetry positioned on the icosahedral 2-fold axes. Both the virion structural properties and the genome content support MTIV as the founding member of a new family of archaeal viruses.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Wagner, Cassia; Reddy, Vijay; Asturias, Francisco; Khoshouei, Maryam; Johnson, John; Manrique, Pilar; Munson-McGee, Jacob; Baumeister, Wolfgang; Lawrence, C; Young, Mark; Dermody, Terence
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- Archaea, archaeal virus, crenarchaeal, cryo-electron microscopy, environmental virology, extremophiles, viruses in extreme environments