title: SH1: A novel, spherical halovirus isolated from an Australian hypersaline lake.
abstract: A novel halovirus, SH1, with a spherical morphology is described. Isolated from a hypersaline lake, SH1 is divalent, producing clear plaques on Haloarcula hispanica and a natural Halorubrum isolate. Single-step growth curves gave a latent period of 5-6 h and a burst size of around 200 PFU/cell. The host can differentiate to form tight clusters of thick cell-walled forms, and these were shown to be resistant to infection. Purified virions had no visible tail, were about 70 nm in diameter, and displayed a fragile outer capsid layer, possibly with an underlying membrane component. The structural proteins of the virion were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and several were found to be cross-linked, forming protein complexes. The genome was linear, dsDNA, of approximately 30 kb in length. This morphology and linear genome are features not observed in any other euryarchaeal viruses, but have properties similar to the bacterial virus PRD1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kukkaro
authors.forename: Jaana K H
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Bamford
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bath
authors.forename: Hanna M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kivelä
authors.forename: Mike L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Dyall-Smith
authors.forename: Dennis H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Bamford
mesh_terms: D023641:Archaeal Viruses / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D001315:Australia; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000821:virology*; D019613:Haloarcula / Q000821:virology; D006216:Halobacteriaceae / Q000821:virology*; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014771:Virion / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins; D012965:Sodium Chloride