美国弗吉尼亚理工大学Frank O. Aylward研究小组取得一项新突破。他们的研究开发出了单细胞绿藻中巨大病毒的隐性感染。2025年4月10日出版的《科学》杂志发表了这项成果。

本文描述了模型绿藻莱茵衣藻（Chlamydomonas reinhardtii）中一个617 kbp的整合巨型病毒元件。研究小组解决了整合病毒基因组主题的长读测序，鉴定了一个假定的Polinton样整合酶，并表明病毒颗粒主要在固定生长阶段积累。多种病毒编码的自私遗传元件在病毒活动期间表达，包括几个编码Fanzor核酸酶的转座元件。此外，该研究团队还发现了衣藻的野外分离株。内源性巨型病毒主题与C. reinhardtii病毒相关，表现出相似的感染动态，表明巨型病毒潜伏期在自然宿主群落中普遍存在。他们的工作描述了一种单细胞真核生物的异常大的温带病毒，极大地扩展了病毒圈中隐病毒感染的范围。

据悉，潜伏是广泛病毒谱系中的一种常见策略，但其在大型病毒主题中的流行程度尚不清楚。

作者：小柯机器人

附：英文原文

Title: Cryptic infection of a giant virus in a unicellular green alga

Author: Maria P. Erazo-Garcia, Uri Sheyn, Zachary K. Barth, Rory J. Craig, Petronella Wessman, Abdeali M. Jivaji, W. Keith Ray, Maria Svensson-Coelho, Charlie K. Cornwallis, Karin Rengefors, Corina P. D. Brussaard, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, Frank O. Aylward

Issue&Volume: 2025-04-10

Abstract: Latency is a common strategy in a wide range of viral lineages, but its prevalence in giant viruses remains unknown. Here we describe a 617 kbp integrated giant viral element in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We resolve the integrated viral genome using long-read sequencing, identify a putative polinton-like integrase, and show that viral particles accumulate primarily during the stationary growth phase. A diverse array of viral-encoded selfish genetic elements is expressed during viral activity, including several Fanzor nuclease-encoding transposable elements. In addition, we show that field isolates of Chlamydomonas sp. harbor signatures of endogenous giant viruses related to the C. reinhardtii virus that exhibit similar infection dynamics, suggesting that giant virus latency is prevalent in natural host communities. Our work describes an unusually large temperate virus of a unicellular eukaryote, substantially expanding the scope of cryptic viral infections in the virosphere.

DOI: ads6303

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads6303