RNA Sequencing of Medusavirus Suggests Remodeling of the Host Nuclear Environment at an Early Infection Stage

Zhang, Ruixuan; Endo, Hisashi; Takemura, Masaharu; Ogata, Hiroyuki

doi:10.1128/spectrum.00064-21

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…The genome contains introns that are presumably spliced out in the host nucleus [ 29 ]. A viral factory forms in the nucleus and has not been observed in the cytoplasm [ 95 ]. Acanthamoeba castellanii may be a natural host for medusavirus as there is evidence of extensive horizontal gene transfer between medusavirus and Acanthamoeba in both directions, including an H1-like protein encoded in the virus that appears to be acquired from the host, though virus to host transfer is also possible.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A second medusavirus, called medusavirus stheno, also encodes all four core HFDs, but in this case the H3-like and H4-like HFDs are encoded as an H3–H4 doublet [ 32 ]. The core histones are transcribed at an intermediate time during infection, but the H1-like protein is expressed early, suggesting that it acts independently of the core histones [ 95 ], perhaps to shut down the host genome. Like the marseillevirus HFDs, all of the medusavirus HFDs branch below the divergence of the corresponding eukaryotic histones in a phylogenetic tree [ 29 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Viral histones: pickpocket’s prize or primordial progenitor?

Talbert

Armache

Henikoff

2022

Epigenetics & Chromatin

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The common histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 are the characteristic components of eukaryotic nucleosomes, which function to wrap DNA and compact the genome as well as to regulate access to DNA for transcription and replication in all eukaryotes. In the past two decades, histones have also been found to be encoded in some DNA viruses, where their functions and properties are largely unknown, though recently histones from two related viruses have been shown to form nucleosome-like structures in vitro. Viral histones can be highly similar to eukaryotic histones in primary sequence, suggesting they have been recently picked up from eukaryotic hosts, or they can be radically divergent in primary sequence and may occur as conjoined histone doublets, triplets, or quadruplets, suggesting ancient origins prior to the divergence of modern eukaryotes. Here, we review what is known of viral histones and discuss their possible origins and functions. We consider how the viral life cycle may affect their properties and histories, and reflect on the possible roles of viruses in the origin of the nucleus of modern eukaryotic cells.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viral histones: pickpocket’s prize or primordial progenitor?

Talbert

Armache

Henikoff

2022

Epigenetics & Chromatin

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“…The following families are classified in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota : Ascoviridae , Asfarviridae , Iridoviridae , Marseilleviridae , Mimiviridae , Phycodnaviridae , and Poxviridae ( 10 ). Medusavirus was recently classified in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota as an independent proposed family, Medusaviridae ( 1 , 11 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This observation suggests that the nuclear function of amoeba cells is dominated by the replication of medusavirus and that progeny viruses cross the host cell membrane and are released at the same time. A recent study suggests that early expression of genes, including histone H1 of medusavirus, results in the remodeling of the host nuclear environment before medusavirus DNA replication ( 11 ). Together, these observations suggest that medusavirus exhibits unique characteristics with respect to particle maturation, compared with other NCLDVs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particle Morphology of Medusavirus Inside and Outside the Cells Reveals a New Maturation Process of Giant Viruses

Watanabe

Song

Kayama

et al. 2022

J Virol

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“…The clandestinovirus histidine-like (His-like) tRNA is also found in medusavirus. Indeed, according to the results of several analyses, these two viruses are phylogenetically related ( Zhang et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Vermamoeba Vermiformis As Host Cell Support: a Nove...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of Giant Viruses Infecting Vermamoeba vermiformis

et al. 2022

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The discovery of Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus in 2003 using the free-living amoeba Acanthamoeba polyphaga caused a paradigm shift in the virology field. Twelve years later, using another amoeba as a host, i.e., Vermamoeba vermiformis, novel isolates of giant viruses have been discovered. This amoeba–virus relationship led scientists to study the evolution of giant viruses and explore the origins of eukaryotes. The purpose of this article is to review all the giant viruses that have been isolated from Vermamoeba vermiformis, compare their genomic features, and report the influence of these viruses on the cell cycle of their amoebal host. To date, viruses putatively belonging to eight different viral taxa have been described: 7 are lytic and 1 is non-lytic. The comparison of giant viruses infecting Vermamoeba vermiformis has suggested three homogenous groups according to their size, the replication time inside the host cell, and the number of encoding tRNAs. This approach is an attempt at determining the evolutionary origins and trajectories of the virus; therefore, more giant viruses infecting Vermamoeba must be discovered and studied to create a comprehensive knowledge on these intriguing biological entities.

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RNA Sequencing of Medusavirus Suggests Remodeling of the Host Nuclear Environment at an Early Infection Stage

Abstract: Medusavirus is an amoeba-infecting giant virus that was isolated from a hot spring in Japan. It belongs to the proposed family “ Medusaviridae ” in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota .

Cited by 9 publications

References 60 publications

Viral histones: pickpocket’s prize or primordial progenitor?

Viral histones: pickpocket’s prize or primordial progenitor?

Particle Morphology of Medusavirus Inside and Outside the Cells Reveals a New Maturation Process of Giant Viruses

Diversity of Giant Viruses Infecting Vermamoeba vermiformis

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