title: Sequence analysis of an Archaeal virus isolated from a hypersaline lake in Inner Mongolia, China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We are profoundly ignorant about the diversity of viruses that infect the domain Archaea. Less than 100 have been identified and described and very few of these have had their genomic sequences determined. Here we report the genomic sequence of a previously undescribed archaeal virus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Haloarchaeal strains with 16S rRNA gene sequences 98% identical to Halorubrum saccharovorum were isolated from a hypersaline lake in Inner Mongolia. Two lytic viruses infecting these were isolated from the lake water. The BJ1 virus is described in this paper. It has an icosahedral head and tail morphology and most likely a linear double stranded DNA genome exhibiting terminal redundancy. Its genome sequence has 42,271 base pairs with a GC content ofapproximately 65 mol%. The genome of BJ1 is predicted to encode 70 ORFs, including one for a tRNA. Fifty of the seventy ORFs had no identity to data base entries; twenty showed sequence identity matches to archaeal viruses and to haloarchaea. ORFs possibly coding for an origin of replication complex, integrase, helicase and structural capsid proteins were identified. Evidence for viral integration was obtained.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The virus described here has a very low sequence identity to any previously described virus. Fifty of the seventy ORFs could not be annotated in any way based on amino acid identities with sequences already present in the databases. Determining functions for ORFs such as these is probably easier using a simple virus as a model system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Immunity and Inflammation, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 9HN, UK. eulyn_pagaling@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Eulyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pagaling
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Haigh
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Don A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: Brian E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Yanhe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ventosa
authors.forename: Shaun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heaphy
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000821:virology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002681:China; D004279:DNA, Viral; D005618:Fresh Water; D016679:Genome, Viral; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D014780:Viruses / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D012965:Sodium Chloride