dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaMimivirus and the emerging concept of "giant" virus
| Authors | Jean-Michel Claverie, Hiroyuki Ogata, Stéphane Audic, Chantal Abergel, Pierre-Edouard Fournier, Karsten Suhre |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0506007 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0506007 |
Abstract
The recently discovered Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus is the largest known DNA virus. Its particle size (>400 nm), genome length (1.2 million bp) and large gene repertoire (911 protein coding genes) blur the established boundaries between viruses and parasitic cellular organisms. In addition, the analysis of its genome sequence identified new types of genes not expected to be seen in a virus, such as aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and other central components of the translation machinery. In this article, we examine how the finding of a giant virus for the first time overlapping with the world of cellular organisms in terms of size and genome complexity might durably influence the way we look at microbial biodiversity, and force us to fundamentally revise our classification of life forms. We propose to introduce the word "girus" to recognize the intermediate status of these giant DNA viruses, the genome complexity of which make them closer to small parasitic prokaryotes than to regular viruses.
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"abstract": "The recently discovered Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus is the largest known\nDNA virus. Its particle size (\u003e400 nm), genome length (1.2 million bp) and\nlarge gene repertoire (911 protein coding genes) blur the established\nboundaries between viruses and parasitic cellular organisms. In addition, the\nanalysis of its genome sequence identified new types of genes not expected to\nbe seen in a virus, such as aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and other central\ncomponents of the translation machinery. In this article, we examine how the\nfinding of a giant virus for the first time overlapping with the world of\ncellular organisms in terms of size and genome complexity might durably\ninfluence the way we look at microbial biodiversity, and force us to\nfundamentally revise our classification of life forms. We propose to introduce\nthe word \"girus\" to recognize the intermediate status of these giant DNA\nviruses, the genome complexity of which make them closer to small parasitic\nprokaryotes than to regular viruses.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0506007",
"authors": [
"Jean-Michel Claverie",
"Hiroyuki Ogata",
"St\u00e9phane Audic",
"Chantal Abergel",
"Pierre-Edouard Fournier",
"Karsten Suhre"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.PE"
],
"title": "Mimivirus and the emerging concept of \"giant\" virus",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0506007"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
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"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
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