Pandoraviruses Are Not Alive
Pandoraviruses seemingly have the ability to produce an electrical potential across their membrane, a feature that is typically only associated with living cells.
amoeba
Only the ribosome is lacking
If you know anything about me, you know that I’m mad about viruses. Although this madness extends to everything viral, I have a peculiar fondness for giant viruses. A new giant virus has been found that not only looks different from all the others, but has an amazing set of genes.
A different kind of remote control
Among the multitudes of eukaryotic viruses with DNA genomes, some replicate in the cell nucleus, while others avoid the nuclear bureaucracy and remain in the cytoplasm. But biology is not always so rigid: a new giant virus has been found that replicates in the cytoplasm, where it seems to recruit components of the nuclear transcription machinery …
TWiV 380: Viruses visible in le microscope photonique
On episode #380 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiVeroos deliver the weekly Zika Report, then talk about a cryoEM structure of a plant virus that reveals how the RNA genome is packaged in the capsid, and MIMIVIRE, a CRISPR-like defense system in giant eukaryotic viruses. You can find TWiV at microbe.tv/twiv, …
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Pandoravirus, bigger and unlike anything seen before
The discovery of the giant Mimivirus and Megavirus amazed virologists (and also many others). Their virions (750 nanometers) and DNA genomes (1,259,000 base pairs) were the biggest ever discovered, shattering the notions that viruses could not be seen with a light microscope, and that viral genomes were smaller than bacterial genomes. Now two even bigger viruses have been discovered, …
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TWiV 139: Honey, I shrunk the virus
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Dickson Despommier Vincent, Alan, and Dickson discuss the reduction in genome size of Mimivirus upon passage in amoeba, and analysis of the microbiome of honeybees. [powerpress url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV139.mp3″] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #139 (96 MB .mp3, 80 minutes). Subscribe to TWiV (free) in …