Giant viruses integrate into the genomes of money protists. Our latest study adds the model protist Euglena to the list

"Giant endogenous viral elements in the genome of the model protist Euglena gracilis reveal past interactions with giant viruses"

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.23.650285v1

#viruses #protists #microbiology #genomics

Giant endogenous viral elements in the genome of the model protist Euglena gracilis reveal past interactions with giant viruses

Giant viruses in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota have increasingly been found integrated into the genomes of diverse eukaryotes. Here we report 8 Giant Endogenous Viral Elements (GEVEs) in the genome of the microalgae Euglena gracilis.

^bioRxiv

Video and article from our lab about our latest giant virus paper

"Researchers discover large dormant virus can be reactivated in model green alga"

https://news.vt.edu/articles/2025/04/researchers-discover-large-dormant-virus-can-be-reactivated-in-m.html

And link to original paper
https://www.science.org/stoken/author-tokens/ST-2552/full

#viruses #science #virology #microbes

Researchers discover large dormant virus can be reactivated in model green alga

Frank Aylward and Maria Paula Erazo Garcia discovered the largest virus ever recorded with a latent infection cycle in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardti. Their findings were published in Science.

^news.vt.edu

We found a really cool giant virus inside the genome of a green alga, and it has a very strange infection cycle that is hard to detect.

There are reports going back decades of viral particles spontaneously appearing in pure cultures of green algae, so this phenomenon seems quite common but mostly overlooked.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads6303

#viruses #microbiology #algae

Sustained in situ protein production and release in the mammalian gut by an engineered bacteriophage

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-025-02570-7

#phages #viruses

Sustained in situ protein production and release in the mammalian gut by an engineered bacteriophage - Nature Biotechnology

Biologics are delivered to the gut using phage that infects resident commensal bacteria.

^Nature

Giant virus encodes key piece of protein-making machinery of cellular life

"Viruses are integral to the functioning of ocean ecosystems, influencing biological productivity, shifting community interactions, and driving evolutionary change,"

https://phys.org/news/2024-12-giant-virus-encodes-key-piece.html

#viruses #microbiology #GiantViruses #protists

Giant virus encodes key piece of protein-making machinery of cellular life

Researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa have discovered that a virus, FloV-SA2, encodes one of the proteins needed to make ribosomes, the central engines in all cells that translate genetic information into proteins, the building blocks of …

^{Marcie Grabowski (Phys.org)}

Virus snowflakes from the lab holiday party. T4 and mimivirus are the best, of course.

#holidays #viruses #snowflakes

We have a new preprint describing a method for #bacteriophage phylogenetics and comparative genomics.

Maybe useful for those interested in all the amazing #phages out there and their bizarre mosaic genomes

Towards a unifying phylogenomic framework for tailed phages

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.21.619452v1.abstract

#viruses #microbiology

Towards a unifying phylogenomic framework for tailed phages

Background Classifying viruses systematically has remained a key challenge of virology due to the absence of universal genes and vast genetic diversity of viruses.

^bioRxiv

Very nice study from Henshaw et al shows that #marine heterotrophic bacteria can sense and move towards cyanobacteria when the latter are infected with #viruses.

Presumably the signatures of early infection are a sign that nutrients from a lysed cell will be available soon.

This is a nice study that has implications for understanding the role of viruses in the #ocean.

Article here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-024-01843-2

And we wrote a commentary here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-024-01867-8

#microbiology

Metabolites from intact phage-infected Synechococcus chemotactically attract heterotrophic marine bacteria - Nature Microbiology

The authors use time-resolved metabolomics and microfluidics to characterize enhanced heterotroph chemoattraction to metabolites released from cyanobacteria during early stages of phage infection.

^Nature

Metabolites from intact phage-infected Synechococcus chemotactically attract heterotrophic marine bacteria

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-024-01843-2

#viruses #marine #ocean

Metabolites from intact phage-infected Synechococcus chemotactically attract heterotrophic marine bacteria - Nature Microbiology

The authors use time-resolved metabolomics and microfluidics to characterize enhanced heterotroph chemoattraction to metabolites released from cyanobacteria during early stages of phage infection.

^Nature

New #ISEPpapers #preprint! Viral infection to the raphidophycean alga #Heterosigma akashiwo affects both intracellular organic matter composition and dynamics of a coastal prokaryotic community https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.07.616994v1

#protists #algae #viruses #microbes #biology

Hunting down giant viruses that attack tiny algae
https://phys.org/news/2024-09-giant-viruses-tiny-algae.html

#viruses #algae #microbiology

Hunting down giant viruses that attack tiny algae

They were said to come from outer space, and there were even claims that they were actually bacteria and that they undermined the very definition of viruses.

^{Weizmann Institute of Science (Phys.org)}

We found a really big active endogenous virus

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.03.611062v1

#viruses #algae #microbiology

Latent infection of an active giant endogenous virus in a unicellular green alga

Latency is a common strategy in a wide range of viral lineages, but its prevalence in giant viruses remains unknown.

^bioRxiv

The diel disconnect between cell growth and division in Aureococcus is interrupted by giant virus infection

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1426193/full

#viruses #algae #microbiology

Frontiers | The diel disconnect between cell growth and division in Aureococcus is interrupted by giant virus infection

Viruses of eukaryotic algae have become an important research focus due to their role(s) in nutrient cycling and top-down control of algal blooms. Omics-base...

^Frontiers

How Viruses Shape Microbial Plankton Microdiversity

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-040623-090847

#microbiology #plankton #viruses #ocean

Giant viral signatures on the Greenland ice sheet

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-024-01796-y

#viruses #GiantViruses #polar

Giant viral signatures on the Greenland ice sheet - Microbiome

Background Dark pigmented snow and glacier ice algae on glaciers and ice sheets contribute to accelerating melt. The biological controls on these algae, particularly the role of viruses, remain poorly understood.

^{BioMed Central}

Widespread occurrence and diverse origins of polintoviruses influence lineage-specific genome dynamics in stony corals

https://academic.oup.com/ve/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ve/veae039/7670984

#viruses #coral #evolution #genomics

Widespread occurrence and diverse origins of polintoviruses influence lineage-specific genome dynamics in stony corals

Abstract:. Stony corals (Order Scleractinia) are central to vital marine habitats known as coral reefs. Numerous stressors in the Anthropocene are contribu

^{Stephens, Danae (Oxford University Press)}

Globally occurring pelagiphage infections create ribosome-deprived cells

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48172-w

#viruses #marine #ocean

Globally occurring pelagiphage infections create ribosome-deprived cells - Nature Communications

SAR11 bacteria and their phages are abundant in the oceans. Here the authors quantify the number of phage-infected SAR11 cells using microscopy techniques and discover phage-infected cells without any detectable ribosomes.

^Nature

"A retroviral link to vertebrate myelination through retrotransposon-RNA-mediated control of myelin gene expression"

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00013-8

I have great exaptations for this article

#viruses #evolution

A giant virus infecting the amoeboflagellate Naegleria

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47308-2

#viruses #giantViruses #microbiology

A giant virus infecting the amoeboflagellate Naegleria - Nature Communications

This is the first report on a virus infecting the amoeboflagellate Naegleria, including the lethal human pathogen N. fowleri.

^Nature

Happy to share the latest manuscript from our lab, in which we propose that eukaryotes evolved from a genomic chimera of Asgard archaea and giant viruses.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.22.590592v1

This is a controversial topic, but we believe we have strong evidence to suggest a critical viral role in eukaryogenesis.

#viruses #protists #eukaryotes #evolution #TreeOfLIfe #archaea

Chimeric Origin of Eukaryotes from Asgard Archaea and Ancestral Giant Viruses

The details surrounding the evolution of complex cells remain some of the most enduring mysteries in biology.

^bioRxiv

Hot springs viruses at Yellowstone National Park have ancient origins and are adapted to thermophilic hosts

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-05931-1

#viruses #virology #extremophiles

Hot springs viruses at Yellowstone National Park have ancient origins and are adapted to thermophilic hosts - Communications Biology

Analysis of the virus community associated with red algal mats in Yellowstone National Park shows it to be dominated by Megaviricetes, with resident virus lineages being of ancient origin and encoding genomic footprints of adaptation to thermophily.

^Nature

Viruses Finally Reveal Their Complex Social Life
https://www.quantamagazine.org/viruses-finally-reveal-their-complex-social-life-20240411/ by @Carl_Zimmer

Open questions in the social lives of viruses https://academic.oup.com/jeb/article/36/11/1551/7577264

"New research has uncovered a social world of #viruses full of cheating, cooperation and other intrigues, suggesting that viruses make sense only as members of a community."

Who are giant viruses infecting in the ocean?

In a collaborative paper with the Vardi lab, we were able to link many giant virus lineages to protist hosts using #SingleCell #RNASeq. One #protist host (leucocryptos) made up less than 1% of the community, but we could still identify a cryptic viral lineage infecting it, leading to population collapse.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-024-01669-y

#marine #viruses #microbiology

Single-cell RNA-seq of the rare virosphere reveals the native hosts of giant viruses in the marine environment - Nature Microbiology

Active infections of giant viruses in their marine protists hosts are tracked at single-cell resolution, showing that, despite being rare, these viruses still impact microbial population dynamics.

^Nature

Our latest commentary about a cool recent paper on virophage-mediated defense against giant #viruses!

March of the proviruses

https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2402541121

#virology #microbiology

Nice paper examining virophage-mediated antiviral defense in protists!

Endogenous virophages are active and mitigate giant virus infection in the marine protist Cafeteria burkhardae

https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2314606121

#viruses #virology #protists

The Simons Foundation has amazing #postdoc #fellowships for anyone interested in #marine microbial #ecology or #evolution.

I'd love to sponsor anyone interested in viral diversity!

Please spread the word!

https://www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-marine-microbial-ecology/?mc_cid=3818457af5&mc_eid=0969502559

#viruses #microbiology

Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Marine Microbial Ecology | Simons Foundation

The Simons Foundation invites applications for postdoctoral fellowships to support candidates who intend to pursue a career in basic research on fundamental problems in marine microbial ecology, with an emphasis on understanding the role of microorga…

^{Simons Foundation}

Large language models improve annotation of prokaryotic viral proteins

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01584-8

#virology #viruses #bioinformatics #genomics

Large language models improve annotation of prokaryotic viral proteins - Nature Microbiology

Ocean viral proteome annotations are expanded by a machine learning approach that is not reliant on sequence homology and can annotate sequences not homologous to those seen in training.

^Nature

Another interesting study suggesting that giant viruses can control phototaxis in their hosts during infection

"Hijacking of internal calcium dynamics by intracellularly residing viral rhodopsins"

"... we show here that light irradiation reversibly modified tail movements of OLPVR1-expressing frog tadpoles."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44548-6

#viruses #GiantViruses #virology

Hijacking of internal calcium dynamics by intracellularly residing viral rhodopsins - Nature Communications

Rhodopsins are ubiquitous light-driven membrane proteins that have diverse functions in nature, and value as optogenetics tools.

^Nature

Daily turnover of active giant virus infection during algal blooms revealed by single-cell transcriptomics

"A consistent percent of infected coccolithophores displayed the early phase of viral replication for several consecutive days, indicating a daily turnover and continuous virocell-associated metabolite production, potentially affecting the surrounding microbiome"

https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.adf7971

#viruses #algae #HAB #ocean #marine #virology

#Viruses of #Plankton: On the Edge of the Viral Frontier

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/1/31

#virology

Viruses of Plankton: On the Edge of the Viral Frontier

The field of aquatic viral ecology has continued to evolve rapidly over the last three decades [...]

^MDPI

Gene duplication as a major force driving the genome expansion in some giant viruses

https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/jvi.01309-23

#GiantViruses #viruses #virology #genomics

Contrasting drivers of abundant phage and prokaryotic communities revealed in diverse coastal ecosystems

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43705-023-00333-6

#marine #viruses #phages #ocean #microbiology #virology

Contrasting drivers of abundant phage and prokaryotic communities revealed in diverse coastal ecosystems - ISME Communications

ISME Communications - Contrasting drivers of abundant phage and prokaryotic communities revealed in diverse coastal ecosystems

^Nature

Kratosvirus quantuckense: the history and novelty of an algal bloom disrupting virus and a model for giant virus research

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1284617

#viruses #marine #ocean #HAB #GiantViruses

Kratosvirus quantuckense: the history and novelty of an algal bloom disrupting virus and a model for giant virus research

Since the discovery of the first “giant virus,” particular attention has been paid toward isolating and culturing these large DNA viruses through Acanthamoeba spp. bait systems.

^Frontiers

Ongoing shuffling of protein fragments diversifies core viral functions linked to interactions with bacterial hosts

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-43236-9

#phages #viruses #evolution #genomics

Ongoing shuffling of protein fragments diversifies core viral functions linked to interactions with bacterial hosts - Nature Communications

Proteins are composed of distinct functional domains, each serving a specific role. Here, Smug et al. show that phages are able to shuffle fragments of their proteins and this predominantly occurs in proteins involved in bacterial host interactions.

^Nature

New #ISEPpapers! The #protist #Aurantiochytrium has universal subtelomeric rDNAs and is a host for #mirusviruses: Jackie Collier et al. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01368-4

#protists #microbes #protistology #microbiology #viruses #virology #genomics

PhD position in viral evolution and diversity @foaylward

Virginia Tech

Funded PhD positions in the Aylward Lab to study the #evolution and #genomics of giant #viruses. Both computational and wet-lab projects available.

See the full job description on jobRxiv: https://jobrxiv.org/job/virginia-tech-27778-funded-phd-position/?feed_id=64662

#ScienceJobs #hiring #research
Blacksburg #UnitedStatesUS ...
https://jobrxiv.org/job/virginia-tech-27778-funded-phd-position/?feed_id=64662

PhD position in viral evolution and diversity

Post a job in 3min, or find thousands of job offers like this one at jobRxiv!

^jobRxiv