title: From small hosts come big viruses: the complete genome of a second Ostreococcus tauri virus, OtV-1.
abstract: Ostreococcus tauri virus (OtV-1) is a large double-stranded DNA virus and a prospective member of the family Phycodnaviridae, genus Prasinovirus. OtV-1 infects the unicellular marine green alga O. tauri, the smallest known free-living eukaryote. Here we present the 191 761 base pair genome sequence of OtV-1, which has 232 putative protein-encoding and 4 tRNA-encoding genes. Approximately 31% of the viral gene products exhibit a similarity to proteins of known functions in public databases. These include a variety of unexpected genes, for example, a PhoH-like protein, a N-myristoyltransferase, a 3-dehydroquinate synthase, a number of glycosyltransferases and methyltransferases, a prolyl 4-hydroxylase, 6-phosphofructokinase and a total of 8 capsid proteins. A total of 11 predicted genes share homology with genes found in the Ostreococcus host genome. In addition, an intein was identified in the DNA polymerase gene of OtV-1. This is the first report of an intein in the genome of a virus that infects O. tauri. Fifteen core genes common to nuclear-cytoplasmic large dsDNA virus (NCLDV) genomes were identified in the OtV-1 genome. This new sequence data may help to redefine the classification of the core genes of these viruses and shed new light on their evolutionary history.
authors: Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK.
authors: Karen D
authors: KD
authors: Weynberg
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Allen
authors: Kevin
authors: K
authors: Ashelford
authors: David J
authors: DJ
authors: Scanlan
authors: William H
authors: WH
authors: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D016679:Genome, Viral; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017862:Phycodnaviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014771:Virion / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins