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Virophages are viruses that infect giant viruses, typically resulting in a lower burst size for the giant virus. In our latest preprint we report virophage-like sequences associated with insect poxviruses.

Their genomes of these elements are really interesting. This also opens up the possibility that hyperparasitic viruses are associated with a much broader range of DNA viruses than is commonly thought.

https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.16.562556

#viruses #virology #poxviruses #GiantViruses


Polinton-like Viruses Associated with Entomopoxviruses Provide Insight into Replicon Evolution

Polinton-like viruses (PLVs) are a diverse group of small integrative dsDNA viruses that infect diverse eukaryotic hosts. Many PLVs are hypothesized to parasitize viruses in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota for their own propagation and spread.
bioRxiv
#viruses #virology #giantviruses #poxviruses

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Alex Crits-Christoph
Alex Crits-Christoph
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Very cool - would these be the first virophages of an animal virus? Congrats to you and Zach.

Any interest in a bsky invite? I'm splitting time here and there now, there's a decent community over there (and no jack dorsey in sight)

in reply to Alex Crits-Christoph

Frank Aylward
Frank Aylward
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@alexcc I call them virophages for simplicity, but they belong to a broader group of polinton-like viruses that includes Mavericks, which were discovered a while ago and were once thought to be transposons before their capsids were identified. But I believe we have the first evidence linking animal elements to large DNA viruses, indicating they may have a virophage-like lifestyle in animals.
@ariskatzourakis has a nice paper on vertebrate elements https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/38/5/1731/6108104

Phylogenomics of the Maverick Virus-Like Mobile Genetic Elements of Vertebrates

Abstract. Mavericks are virus-like mobile genetic elements found in the genomes of eukaryotes. Although Mavericks encode capsid morphogenesis homologs, their vi
Barreat, Jose Gabriel Nino (Oxford University Press)
@Aris Katzourakis @Alex Crits-Christoph
in reply to Alex Crits-Christoph

Frank Aylward
Frank Aylward
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@alexcc as for the invite - thanks very much, I appreciate it, but honestly I can barely keep up here 😀
@Alex Crits-Christoph

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