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