Pandoraviridae
Pandoravirus virion
Virus classification
Group:
Group I (dsDNA)
Order:
Megavirales
Family:
Pandoraviridae
Genus:
Pandoravirus

Pandoraviridae is a family of double-stranded DNA viruses that infect amoebae. There is only one genus in this family: Pandoravirus. Several species in this genus have been described, including Pandoravirus dulcis, Pandoravirus salinus and Pandoravirus yedoma.[1][2]

History

The viruses were discovered in 2013.[1][2]

Description

The viruses in this family are the second largest known virus (~1 micrometer) in capsid length, after Pithovirus (1.5 micrometer).[3] Pandoravirus has the largest viral genome known, containing double-stranded DNA of 1.9 to 2.5 megabase pairs.[4][1]

Evolution

These viruses appear to be related to the phycodnaviruses.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Yong, Ed (18 July 2013). "Giant viruses open Pandora's box". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2013.13410. S2CID 88440241.
  2. ^ a b Nadège Philippe; Matthieu Legendre; Gabriel Doutre; et al. (July 2013). "Pandoraviruses: Amoeba Viruses with Genomes Up to 2.5 Mb Reaching That of Parasitic Eukaryotes" (PDF). Science. 341 (6143): 281–6. Bibcode:2013Sci...341..281P. doi:10.1126/science.1239181. PMID 23869018. S2CID 16877147.
  3. ^ Sirucek, Stefan (3 March 2014). "Ancient "Giant Virus" Revived From Siberian Permafrost". National Geographic. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Brumfiel, Geoff (18 July 2013). "World's Biggest Virus May Have Ancient Roots". National Public Radio. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  5. ^ Yutin N, Koonin EV (2013). "Pandoraviruses are highly derived phycodnaviruses". Biol. Direct. 8: 25. doi:10.1186/1745-6150-8-25. PMC 3924356. PMID 24148757.
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