Abstract
The genus Coccolithovirus is a recently discovered group of viruses that infect the globally important marine calcifying microalga Emiliania huxleyi. Among the 472 predicted genes of the 407,339-base pair genome are a variety of unexpected genes, most notably those involved in biosynthesis of ceramide, a sphingolipid known to induce apoptosis. Uniquely for algal viruses, it also contains six RNA polymerase subunits and a novel promoter, suggesting this virus encodes its own transcription machinery. Microarray transcriptomic analysis reveals that 65% of the predicted virus-encoded genes are expressed during lytic infection of E. huxleyi.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1090-1092 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Science |
| Volume | 309 |
| Issue number | 5737 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Aug 2005 |
Keywords
- EMILIANIA-HUXLEYI
- CELL-DEATH
- PHOSPHATE TRANSPORTER
- VIRUSES
- APOPTOSIS
- CERAMIDE
- PHYCODNAVIRIDAE
- PHYTOPLANKTON
- LIMITATION
- NITROGEN