title: Shan virus: a new mimivirus isolated from the stool of a Tunisian patient with pneumonia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Following the isolation of a Marseillevirus from the stool of a healthy young Senegalese and a Mimivirus from a Tunisian patient with pneumonia, we attempted to isolate other giant viruses of amoebae from a large human stool collection.
  
  
  METHODS
  During the period 2010-2011, a total of 1,605 stool samples, including 115 from Tunisian patients with pneumonia, were cultured on amoebae. We used a recently developed high-throughput isolation system to detect amoebae plaque lysis on agar plates; this method allows for the testing of 100 samples per plate per week. The giant virus was identified by sequencing of genes conserved in Megavirales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A single giant virus, called Shan, was isolated from the stool of a Tunisian patient with pneumonia who responded poorly to antibiotics. This virus has an icosahedral shape typical of members of the family Mimiviridae and a size of 640 ± 10 nm. Phylogenetic analyses showed that Shan virus was classified as a member of Mimivirus lineage C that infects amoebae.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Only one isolate was obtained in this study, suggesting that giant viruses of amoebae are rare in human stool. The isolation of Shan virus from a patient with pneumonia brings into question the etiological role of this virus and its subsequent release in stool.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Hanene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saadi
authors.forename: Dorine-Gaelle Ikanga
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Reteno
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colson
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aherfi
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Minodier
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pagnier
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: La Scola
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000656:Amoeba / Q000821:virology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D056686:Mimiviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000821:virology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay; D014771:Virion / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014776:Virus Cultivation
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral