title: The analysis of translation-related gene set boosts debates around origin and evolution of mimiviruses.
abstract: The giant mimiviruses challenged the well-established concept of viruses, blurring the roots of the tree of life, mainly due to their genetic content. Along with other nucleo-cytoplasmic large DNA viruses, they compose a new proposed order-named Megavirales-whose origin and evolution generate heated debate in the scientific community. The presence of an arsenal of genes not widespread in the virosphere related to important steps of the translational process, including transfer RNAs, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, and translation factors for peptide synthesis, constitutes an important element of this debate. In this review, we highlight the main findings to date about the translational machinery of the mimiviruses and compare their distribution along the distinct members of the family Mimiviridae. Furthermore, we discuss how the presence and/or absence of the translation-related genes among mimiviruses raises important insights to boost the debate on their origin and evolutionary history.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE) UM63 CNRS 7278 IRD 198 INSERM U1095, Aix-Marseille Univ., 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.|Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Microbiologia, Laboratório de Vírus, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jônatas Santos
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Abrahão
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Microbiologia, Laboratório de Vírus, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE) UM63 CNRS 7278 IRD 198 INSERM U1095, Aix-Marseille Univ., 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colson
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE) UM63 CNRS 7278 IRD 198 INSERM U1095, Aix-Marseille Univ., 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: La Scola
mesh_terms: D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases / Q000235:genetics; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D003593:Cytoplasm; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D056686:Mimiviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012343:RNA, Transfer; D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases