title: Mimivirus inaugurated in the 21st century the beginning of a reclassification of viruses.
abstract: Mimivirus and other giant viruses are visible by light microscopy and bona fide microbes that differ from other viruses and from cells that have a ribosome. They can be defined by: giant virion and genome sizes; their complexity, with the presence of DNA and mRNAs and dozens or hundreds of proteins in virions; the presence of translation-associated components; a mobilome including (pro)virophages (and a defence mechanism, named MIMIVIRE, against them) and transpovirons; their monophyly; the presence of the most archaic protein motifs they share with cellular organisms but not other viruses; a broader host range than other viruses. These features show that giant viruses are specific, autonomous, biological entities that warrant the creation of a new branch of microbes.
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Univ., Ecole Centrale de Marseille, I2M UMR 7373, CNRS équipe Evolution Biologique et Modélisation, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Vikas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: IHU Méditerranée Infection, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire Timone, Pôle des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Clinique et Biologique, Fédération de Bactériologie-Hygiène-Virologie, 264 rue Saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France; Aix-Marseille Univ., URMITE UM 63 CNRS 7278 IRD 198 INSERM U1095, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colson
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Univ., Ecole Centrale de Marseille, I2M UMR 7373, CNRS équipe Evolution Biologique et Modélisation, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pontarotti
authors.affiliation: IHU Méditerranée Infection, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire Timone, Pôle des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Clinique et Biologique, Fédération de Bactériologie-Hygiène-Virologie, 264 rue Saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France; Aix-Marseille Univ., URMITE UM 63 CNRS 7278 IRD 198 INSERM U1095, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France. Electronic address: didier.raoult@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
mesh_terms: D000048:Acanthamoeba / Q000821:virology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D000072139:Giant Viruses / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D056686:Mimiviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral