美國(guó)弗吉尼亞理工大學(xué)Frank O. Aylward研究小組取得一項(xiàng)新突破。他們的研究開發(fā)出了單細(xì)胞綠藻中巨大病毒的隱性感染。2025年4月10日出版的《科學(xué)》雜志發(fā)表了這項(xiàng)成果。

本文描述了模型綠藻萊茵衣藻（Chlamydomonas reinhardtii）中一個(gè)617 kbp的整合巨型病毒元件。研究小組解決了整合病毒基因組主題的長(zhǎng)讀測(cè)序，鑒定了一個(gè)假定的Polinton樣整合酶，并表明病毒顆粒主要在固定生長(zhǎng)階段積累。多種病毒編碼的自私遺傳元件在病毒活動(dòng)期間表達(dá)，包括幾個(gè)編碼Fanzor核酸酶的轉(zhuǎn)座元件。此外，該研究團(tuán)隊(duì)還發(fā)現(xiàn)了衣藻的野外分離株。內(nèi)源性巨型病毒主題與C. reinhardtii病毒相關(guān)，表現(xiàn)出相似的感染動(dòng)態(tài)，表明巨型病毒潛伏期在自然宿主群落中普遍存在。他們的工作描述了一種單細(xì)胞真核生物的異常大的溫帶病毒，極大地?cái)U(kuò)展了病毒圈中隱病毒感染的范圍。

據(jù)悉，潛伏是廣泛病毒譜系中的一種常見策略，但其在大型病毒主題中的流行程度尚不清楚。

作者：小柯機(jī)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