title: A simple procedure to determine the infectivity and host range of viruses infecting anaerobic and hyperthermophilic microorganisms.
abstract: Plaque assay is the method traditionally used to isolate and purify lytic viruses, to determine the viral titer and host range. Whereas most bacterioviruses are either temperate or lytic, the majority of known archeoviruses are not lytic (i.e. they are temperate or chronic). In view of the widespread occurrence of such viruses in extreme environments, we designed an original method, called the inverted spot test, to determine the host range and infectivity of viruses isolated from anaerobic hyperthermophilic and sulfur-reducing microorganisms. Here, we used this approach to prove for the first time the infectivity of Pyrococcus abyssi virus 1 (PAV1) and to confirm the host range of Thermococcus prieurii virus 1 (TPV1), the only two viruses isolated so far from any of the described marine hyperthermophilic archaea (Euryarchaeota phylum, Thermococcales order).
authors: Laboratory of Microbiology of Extreme Environments, UMR 6197/CNRS/UBO IUEM, Place Nicolas Copernic, Technopôle Brest Iroise, Plouzane, France. aurore.gorlas@gmail.com
authors: Aurore
authors: A
authors: Gorlas
authors: Claire
authors: C
authors: Geslin
mesh_terms: D023641:Archaeal Viruses / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D058507:Host Specificity; D019711:Pyrococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000821:virology*; D019712:Thermococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000821:virology*; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods