| Coccolithovirus | |
|---|---|
| Virus classification | |
| Group: | Group I (dsDNA) |
| Family: | Phycodnaviridae |
| Genus: | Coccolithovirus |
| Species | |
|
Emiliania huxleyi virus 84 |
|
Coccolithovirus is a genus of giant double-stranded DNA virus that infect Emiliania huxleyi, a species of coccolithophore[1]. The virons are 160-180 nanometers in diameter and have an icosahedral structure.
Contents |
Two genomes have been sequenced Emiliania huxleyi virus 86 and Emiliania huxleyi virus 203.[1] The genomes are ~400 kilobase pairs in length with a G+C content of 41.1% and contains ~470 predicted coding sequences[2]. A third genome has been partly sequenced.[2] A fourth genome - that of Emiliania huxleyi virus 84 - has also been sequenced.[1]
Wilson and his team at the Marine Biological Association (MBA), University of East Anglia and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), first observed the virus in 1999. Later in the summer of 2005 researchers at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (Willie Wilson et al.) and at the Sanger Institute (Holden et al.) sequenced the genome for the EhV-86 strain finding it to have 472 protein-coding genes making it a "giant-virus", and the largest known marine virus by genome[3].
From initial investigation of the Coccolithoviruses genome, a sequence of genes responsible for production of ceramide was discovered [4]. Ceramide is a controlling factor in cell death, and it is currently thought that Coccolithovirus uses this to prolong the life of Emiliania huxleyi while it uses the host cell to replicate. This is a unique ability unseen in any other viral genome to date.